Okay, Chelsea, I found a new fun way to talk about climate change and all the different
impacts it's having on the world.
That does sound fun.
Yeah, that I don't think we've actually talked about before.
I don't think it's something that gets discussed a lot.
It's a little older, but nonetheless, I think it's worth talking about now.
And of course, I have to start this off.
This is from Smithsonian Magazine.
So we always have to keep in the back of our mind, how are they trying to cover up giants
with this story?
So just keep that in mind as we're reading through it to see if we can figure out the
subtle nature and how they're doing it in this story.
Okay.
So, Britain, May 31, 2024 by Christian Thorsberg.
Article title, climate change is making airplane turbulence more common and severe, scientists
say.
Oh, I think I saw this.
Yeah.
So that Air Canada flight that just had like really, really bad turbulence.
There's been quite a few this year and it stems from that.
Yeah.
So passengers aboard a Singapore Airlines flight last week hit severe turbulence over
the Indian Ocean and in the span of just one second, the plane dropped 178 feet.
One passenger, a 73 year old man died and dozens of others were injured.
The plane, which is traveling from London to Singapore, made an emergency landing in
Bangkok and news of the incident has placed airplane turbulence and the science behind
it back into national and international conversations.
And for good reason, research suggests air turbulence has already become more common
and is projected to grow even more frequent and severe because of climate change.
Most of these in-flight disturbances are harmless so long as safety procedures are
adhered to, but more intense instances of turbulence could create more stressful or
dangerous flight experiences for passengers and flight attendants alike.
Whoa.
It is not that we'll have to stop flying or planes will start falling out of the sky.
I'm just saying that for every 10 minutes you've spent in severe turbulence in the
past, it could be 20 to 30 minutes in the future.
Ed Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading, who has researched
air turbulence, told Nature's news Carissa Wong.
Williams and others published a story in 2019 suggesting higher atmospheric temperatures,
a result of global warming, have contributed significantly to more turbulence.
Severe incidents of airplane turbulence increased by 55% from 1979 to 2020 per a study last
year, and wind shear, the sudden change in wind strength or direction over a short distance,
had airplane cruising altitudes increased by 15% since 1979.
A trend expected to further increase by between 17 and 29% by the end of the century.
In the atmosphere, warmer air can hold more water vapor, giving rise to even warmer temperatures
in turn.
This can create differences in air temperatures and researchers' right, making wind shear
more common.
Their findings suggest that turbulence, strong enough to pose a risk of injury, could become
two or three times more likely over the North Atlantic between 2015 and 2080.
It's affecting the wind patterns, and one of those impacts that is being affected are
jet streams.
Those jet streams that are at aircraft flight levels are projected to intensify, which means
that those regions will become more turbulent.
And said Todd Lane, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Melbourne.
And he told this to the Australian Broadcast Incorporations, Joe Lauder.
Some turbulence is caused by thunderstorms, which are also projected to worsen with climate
change, but other turbulence is not linked to storms, making it more difficult for pilots
to predict.
This clear air turbulence, also called invisible turbulence, I don't think they had to do
those two names, they're pretty much the same thing, is also projected to increase under
some climate change scenarios.
It could be four times more common by 2050 compared to historic levels.
Turbulence occurs all across the globe, and is felt most often near mountain ranges and
at the edges of jet streams.
The world's three most turbulent flightplans are Santiago Chile, to Santa Cruz, Bolivia,
Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Lanjoh, China, to Chengdu, China.
But American travelers on domestic flights aren't exempt from the trends.
US pilots report 65,000 incidents of at least moderate turbulence and 5,500 incidents of
severe turbulence, or greater, each year.
Sarah Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants CWA, a union representing
flight attendants called turbulence, quote, a serious workplace safety risk, end quote,
last week per the Washington Post Hannah Sampson.
I think that's far enough.
There's a bit more to the article, but it's just getting into kind of the political people
talking about it.
So I think we can just end it there.
Chelsea, this actually does impact like your real world life a bit.
Is it something that you take into account or what you're in your day to day?
Well, I don't know, but I've heard a lot of crazy stories, not just of turbulence,
but of like air pockets, which I think is what they're referring to is including turbulence
right now.
Yes.
Where like the example I use is when you have your hand out the window and you just like
riding the waves and the airplane just drops.
I have heard many stories about that.
It's one of my greatest fears.
In fact, we did hit one when I went to China.
It wasn't a major one, but it was enough to know the plane was dropping and I was very
hungover, so it was quite shocking.
That's yeah, not fun and terrifying actually when I think about it.
And one thing that this might impact just now that we're talking about it that we've
already covered a little bit with climate change is all these planes are insured.
Not only are they insured, but they carry liability insurance.
So I'm wondering if this is going to make an increase in insurance costs for the carriers
to cause damage to the vessel itself and any potential injuries to people on board the
plane, which is already like we're seeing monumental rises in insurance costs right
now.
It's because of climate change and they their models need to change to cover it.
And like specific to things not covering global warming anymore.
Probably.
And I'm wondering how that's going to impact everything, especially like we live in an
area where WestJet's kind of one of the big providers and they keep cutting anything included
with your flight.
Like they just took out carry on.
Yeah.
I think that's less to do with insurance, but more they're trying to make it seem like
their rates are competitive and they're not by the time you add everything back in.
But yeah, an uncomfortable thing to think about when you're flying.
That's for sure.
Yeah.
Good thing.
None of the major routes are ones that we as Canadians or Americans even are ones that
are frequented by us.
That's true.
But as they said, the most frequent turbulence is around mountains, which is the entire west
side of our continent and the Atlantic's current, which is the east side of our continent.
So I don't really think we're escaping it too much.
And like they said, it's just going to be a 15% increase or something around those lines
everywhere.
Well, since we're flying next week, let's pretend like it's not that big of a deal.
Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.
Yeah.
And in the meantime, you guys, you don't worry about us will be fine because this flight
has already occurred by the time you've heard this.
I sure hope so.
But still have us in your minds and hearts for the next 48 hours until you hear our sweet,
sweet voices again.
Goodbye.
Yes, please.
Yes.