Clear-air turbulence, which is difficult to forecast, is expected to intensify as climate change worsens.
Bad news for nervous fliers. The next time you're gripping the armrests during yet another bumpy flight, know that the worsening climate crisis might be to blame.
The findings showed that more turbulence of a certain kind, known as clear-air turbulence , was caused in recent years by the changes in wind speed due to warmer air.Clear-air turbulence is of particular concern as it is"invisible", often occurring with no visible warning int he sky ahead. This means it is difficult to observe in advance and challenging to forecast.The study, published in the Geophysical Research Letters journal in June, analysed global CAT trends from 1979 to 2020.
Clear-air turbulence happens most often in or near the high-altitude rivers of air called jet streams. The culprit is wind shear, which is when two huge air masses close to each other move at different speeds. If the difference in speed is big enough, the atmosphere can’t handle the strain, and it breaks into turbulent patterns.The US FAA defines wind shear as the change in wind speed and/or direction over a short distance.
The winds blow from west to east in jet streams but the flow often shifts to the north and south. Jet streams follow the boundaries between hot and cold air, said the NOAA website.NOAA said the actual appearance of jet streams results from the complex interaction between many variables, including the location of high and low-pressure systems, warm and cold air, as well as seasonal changes.
The study highlighted how CAT is difficult to observe in advance of an aircraft’s track using remote sensing models.
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