Among so many other consequences of Climate Change, there is one more which has come to light recently i.e. increased & unexpected  turbulence in flights.

Two weeks ago  United Airlines Flight 880 which was carrying more than 200 passengers from Texas, USA  to Heathrow airport ,London, UK was battered by turbulence that threw people on to the cabin ceiling. Twenty-three people were injured. Flight was flying very smooth and then suddenly passengers  got shocked with unexpected turbulence.  The flight had to make an emergency landing at Shannon airport, Ireland as a result of this 'severe clear-air turbulence' which typically comes out of nowhere and is the result of changes in temperature due to global warming.

As per Royal Society researchers ,  It is predicted there will be more and more incidents of severe clear-air turbulence, which typically comes out of the blue with no warning, occurring in the near future as climate change takes its effect in the stratosphere.

As per research, at heights of around 10 to 12km (6-7 miles), a typical cruising altitude for a modern passenger jet plane, temperature changes caused by increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have the effect of making different layers of airflow move at increased speeds relative to each other. When this unstable airflow produces clear-air turbulence – and there are no visual clues to give a pilot warning of what lies ahead – then the aircraft is thrown about with considerable force. If the effect is severe, it will overcome the force of gravity and fling people out of their seats. Turbulence of this severity is being encountered by planes thousands of times a year now.

There has already been a steady rise in incidents of severe turbulence affecting flights over the past few decades. Globally, turbulence causes dozens of fatalities a year on small private planes and hundreds of injuries to passengers in big jets. And as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere keep on rising, so will the numbers of incidents.

In the United States alone, it is estimated that the damage, delays and disruption from turbulence already cost more than $500m a year. And all studies suggest that incidents are getting more frequent. For example, in 2006, the US Federal Aviation Administration reported that the number of incidents in which turbulence caused serious accidents in US flights more than doubled between 1982 and 2003. Crucially, that figure includes adjustments made for the rise in numbers of flights produced by the growth of the aviation industry. Several other studies have produced the same, consistent pattern of a considerable rise in incidents of turbulence – even after adjusting for the aviation industry's growth.

As to tackling turbulence, limiting carbon dioxide emissions would be an obvious move. More direct measures would be to improve the science of turbulence prediction and to find better meteorological algorithms for forecasting such incidents. At present, the science involved had not reached the required precision for forecasting where and when turbulence might strike, but it is improving all the time.

The problem is that retrofitting all the passenger aircraft currently in operation with ultraviolet detection systems would – at present – cost more than the expense that turbulence imposes on the air travel industry.

It is currently too expensive for airlines. However, as more carbon dioxide is pumped into the atmosphere, more turbulence disrupts flights, and more passengers get hurt, then we might see some action. This problem is not going to go away.

So far turbulence was defined as  a 'rough patch' caused by thunderstorms, proximity to mountains, the jet stream, wind and other factors including different layers of airflow moving at increased speeds relative to each other. But now it will have another cause added i.e. climate change effect.

Air travelers should be prepared for a bumpy ride as turbulence is on the rise as a result of global warming.

The good news

Engineers are in the process of developing a technique of identifying pockets of dramatic turbulence by shining ultraviolet light along the path that a plane is taking and then analysing the reflections.

In the mean time, stay calm, keep your seat belt fastened as much as possible and grit your teeth- it'll be over soon! Though annoying and inconvenient most turbulence is harmless. A plane cannot be flipped upside-down, thrown into a tailspin, or otherwise flung from the sky by even the mightiest gust or air pocket. Conditions might be annoying and uncomfortable, but the plane is not going to crash.

Sources : The Guardian, travelstart