1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,580 Okay, Chelsea, I found a new fun way to talk about climate change and all the different 2 00:00:05,580 --> 00:00:07,920 impacts it's having on the world. 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:08,920 That does sound fun. 4 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,440 Yeah, that I don't think we've actually talked about before. 5 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,280 I don't think it's something that gets discussed a lot. 6 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,000 It's a little older, but nonetheless, I think it's worth talking about now. 7 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,600 And of course, I have to start this off. 8 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:22,640 This is from Smithsonian Magazine. 9 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,380 So we always have to keep in the back of our mind, how are they trying to cover up giants 10 00:00:26,380 --> 00:00:27,940 with this story? 11 00:00:27,940 --> 00:00:31,720 So just keep that in mind as we're reading through it to see if we can figure out the 12 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,080 subtle nature and how they're doing it in this story. 13 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:36,080 Okay. 14 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,280 So, Britain, May 31, 2024 by Christian Thorsberg. 15 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:45,080 Article title, climate change is making airplane turbulence more common and severe, scientists 16 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:46,080 say. 17 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:47,080 Oh, I think I saw this. 18 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:48,080 Yeah. 19 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,000 So that Air Canada flight that just had like really, really bad turbulence. 20 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,280 There's been quite a few this year and it stems from that. 21 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:56,280 Yeah. 22 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:00,480 So passengers aboard a Singapore Airlines flight last week hit severe turbulence over 23 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:05,480 the Indian Ocean and in the span of just one second, the plane dropped 178 feet. 24 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:10,120 One passenger, a 73 year old man died and dozens of others were injured. 25 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,880 The plane, which is traveling from London to Singapore, made an emergency landing in 26 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:18,040 Bangkok and news of the incident has placed airplane turbulence and the science behind 27 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,280 it back into national and international conversations. 28 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:25,360 And for good reason, research suggests air turbulence has already become more common 29 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,880 and is projected to grow even more frequent and severe because of climate change. 30 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,160 Most of these in-flight disturbances are harmless so long as safety procedures are 31 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:38,120 adhered to, but more intense instances of turbulence could create more stressful or 32 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,480 dangerous flight experiences for passengers and flight attendants alike. 33 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:42,480 Whoa. 34 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:46,840 It is not that we'll have to stop flying or planes will start falling out of the sky. 35 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,680 I'm just saying that for every 10 minutes you've spent in severe turbulence in the 36 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,480 past, it could be 20 to 30 minutes in the future. 37 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:58,080 Ed Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading, who has researched 38 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,280 air turbulence, told Nature's news Carissa Wong. 39 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:06,600 Williams and others published a story in 2019 suggesting higher atmospheric temperatures, 40 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,320 a result of global warming, have contributed significantly to more turbulence. 41 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:17,200 Severe incidents of airplane turbulence increased by 55% from 1979 to 2020 per a study last 42 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:22,480 year, and wind shear, the sudden change in wind strength or direction over a short distance, 43 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,920 had airplane cruising altitudes increased by 15% since 1979. 44 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:33,000 A trend expected to further increase by between 17 and 29% by the end of the century. 45 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,920 In the atmosphere, warmer air can hold more water vapor, giving rise to even warmer temperatures 46 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:37,920 in turn. 47 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:41,840 This can create differences in air temperatures and researchers' right, making wind shear 48 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,520 more common. 49 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,160 Their findings suggest that turbulence, strong enough to pose a risk of injury, could become 50 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:52,960 two or three times more likely over the North Atlantic between 2015 and 2080. 51 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:57,160 It's affecting the wind patterns, and one of those impacts that is being affected are 52 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:58,720 jet streams. 53 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,480 Those jet streams that are at aircraft flight levels are projected to intensify, which means 54 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,080 that those regions will become more turbulent. 55 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,720 And said Todd Lane, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Melbourne. 56 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,680 And he told this to the Australian Broadcast Incorporations, Joe Lauder. 57 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:16,320 Some turbulence is caused by thunderstorms, which are also projected to worsen with climate 58 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,720 change, but other turbulence is not linked to storms, making it more difficult for pilots 59 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:20,720 to predict. 60 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:26,360 This clear air turbulence, also called invisible turbulence, I don't think they had to do 61 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,560 those two names, they're pretty much the same thing, is also projected to increase under 62 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:32,600 some climate change scenarios. 63 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:37,000 It could be four times more common by 2050 compared to historic levels. 64 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,320 Turbulence occurs all across the globe, and is felt most often near mountain ranges and 65 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,200 at the edges of jet streams. 66 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:48,720 The world's three most turbulent flightplans are Santiago Chile, to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 67 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:55,040 Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Lanjoh, China, to Chengdu, China. 68 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,960 But American travelers on domestic flights aren't exempt from the trends. 69 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:03,600 US pilots report 65,000 incidents of at least moderate turbulence and 5,500 incidents of 70 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,920 severe turbulence, or greater, each year. 71 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:11,320 Sarah Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants CWA, a union representing 72 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,760 flight attendants called turbulence, quote, a serious workplace safety risk, end quote, 73 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,320 last week per the Washington Post Hannah Sampson. 74 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,040 I think that's far enough. 75 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,240 There's a bit more to the article, but it's just getting into kind of the political people 76 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:24,240 talking about it. 77 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:25,960 So I think we can just end it there. 78 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:30,000 Chelsea, this actually does impact like your real world life a bit. 79 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,080 Is it something that you take into account or what you're in your day to day? 80 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:38,000 Well, I don't know, but I've heard a lot of crazy stories, not just of turbulence, 81 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:43,600 but of like air pockets, which I think is what they're referring to is including turbulence 82 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:44,600 right now. 83 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:45,600 Yes. 84 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:50,080 Where like the example I use is when you have your hand out the window and you just like 85 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,880 riding the waves and the airplane just drops. 86 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,200 I have heard many stories about that. 87 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:57,760 It's one of my greatest fears. 88 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,880 In fact, we did hit one when I went to China. 89 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,920 It wasn't a major one, but it was enough to know the plane was dropping and I was very 90 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,320 hungover, so it was quite shocking. 91 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:13,360 That's yeah, not fun and terrifying actually when I think about it. 92 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,440 And one thing that this might impact just now that we're talking about it that we've 93 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:22,080 already covered a little bit with climate change is all these planes are insured. 94 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,560 Not only are they insured, but they carry liability insurance. 95 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,840 So I'm wondering if this is going to make an increase in insurance costs for the carriers 96 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:34,320 to cause damage to the vessel itself and any potential injuries to people on board the 97 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:38,920 plane, which is already like we're seeing monumental rises in insurance costs right 98 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:39,920 now. 99 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,760 It's because of climate change and they their models need to change to cover it. 100 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,560 And like specific to things not covering global warming anymore. 101 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:48,560 Probably. 102 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,040 And I'm wondering how that's going to impact everything, especially like we live in an 103 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,480 area where WestJet's kind of one of the big providers and they keep cutting anything included 104 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:56,480 with your flight. 105 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:57,960 Like they just took out carry on. 106 00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:58,960 Yeah. 107 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:03,120 I think that's less to do with insurance, but more they're trying to make it seem like 108 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:08,080 their rates are competitive and they're not by the time you add everything back in. 109 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,240 But yeah, an uncomfortable thing to think about when you're flying. 110 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:13,240 That's for sure. 111 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:14,240 Yeah. 112 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:15,240 Good thing. 113 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:20,600 None of the major routes are ones that we as Canadians or Americans even are ones that 114 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,520 are frequented by us. 115 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:24,520 That's true. 116 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:29,040 But as they said, the most frequent turbulence is around mountains, which is the entire west 117 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:36,160 side of our continent and the Atlantic's current, which is the east side of our continent. 118 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,480 So I don't really think we're escaping it too much. 119 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,480 And like they said, it's just going to be a 15% increase or something around those lines 120 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:44,480 everywhere. 121 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,920 Well, since we're flying next week, let's pretend like it's not that big of a deal. 122 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:50,760 Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. 123 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:51,760 Yeah. 124 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,840 And in the meantime, you guys, you don't worry about us will be fine because this flight 125 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:58,040 has already occurred by the time you've heard this. 126 00:06:58,040 --> 00:06:59,040 I sure hope so. 127 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:03,000 But still have us in your minds and hearts for the next 48 hours until you hear our sweet, 128 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,000 sweet voices again. 129 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:05,000 Goodbye. 130 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:06,000 Yes, please. 131 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:34,680 Yes.