Turbulence has increased in several regions of the world and this circumstance is consistent with the effects of climate change, according to a study that indicates that the skies are more agitated than 40 years ago.
The University of Reading (USA) published an investigation in Geophysical Research Letters where it warned of the increase in turbulence in clear skies.
This study focused on one of the busiest air routes in the world, the one that passes over the North Atlantic, reported the Efe agency.
At the points analyzed along this route, the annual duration of severe turbulence increased by 55%, from 17.7 hours in 1979 to 27.4 hours in 2020.
The increase in moderate turbulence reached 37% (from 70 to 96.1 hours) and light turbulence increased by 17% (from 466.5 to 546.8 hours).
The research team indicated that “the increases are consistent with the effects of climate change,” the University of Reading said in a statement.
Warmer air from CO2 emissions is increasing wind shear, a sharp change in its direction and speed, increasing clear-sky turbulence in the North Atlantic and around the world, the researchers say.
Turbulence makes “flights bumpy and can be dangerous at times,” said one of the study’s authors, Mark Prosser.
The expert believes that airlines should start thinking about how they are going to deal with the increase in turbulence, which can pose a risk of injury to passengers and flight attendants, but not only.
Prosser noted that every additional minute an aircraft spends in turbulence increases wear and tear on the aircraft, costing the industry $150 million to $500 million a year in the United States alone.
Scientist and study author Paul Williams noted that after a decade of research showing that climate change would increase clear-air turbulence in the future, there is now “evidence to suggest that the increase has already begun.”
For this reason, the researcher recommended investing in better turbulence detection and prediction systems, to prevent choppy air from leading to more irregular flights in the coming decades.
Source: TSF
