Climate change will lead to much more severe turbulence on flights, study suggests
Expect air travel to become more uncomfortable as the planet heats up
Air passengers are likely to experience nearly double the frequency of severe turbulence during flights in the coming decades because of the impact of climate change, according to a scientific study published on Thursday.
The research suggested that if the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases at projected levels by the middle of this century then severe air turbulence will increase by about 85 per cent compared with current levels.
Scientists said airlines may have to take more measures to avoid pockets of severe turbulence which can physically throw passengers around the cabin and cause structural damage to the aircraft.
“Today we are roughly halfway towards a doubling of CO2 [compared with pre-industrial levels], so arguably we have already seen roughly half the turbulence increases, with a further half to come in the future decades,” said Paul Williams, the author of the study and an associate professor in the meteorology department at the University of Reading in Britain.
The study suggests that turbulence will increase up to 188 per cent by mid century compared with pre-industrial levels.