Therefore, air travel could quickly become uncomfortable

When the plane falls, the hearts of many travelers rejoice. Turbulence is not just an unpleasant part of air travel for people who are afraid of flying.

When people fly on vacation this summer, they’re more likely to be rocked by turbulence than those who took a plane a few decades ago. This is shown by a study by the British University of Reading.

The study, published in early June, focuses on clear sky turbulence, which doesn’t occur in a foreseeable way over mountain ranges or during storms, but rather captures the kite in free flight “out of nowhere.” An important result: this turbulence increased in the period studied from 1979 to 2020.

The increase was particularly strong in mid-latitudes and especially over the US and the North Atlantic. The total duration of severe turbulence over the North Atlantic increased by 55 percent, according to the study. Medium turbulence occurred 37 percent longer and light turbulence 17 percent longer. But other regions are also affected, such as routes throughout Europe.

Turbulence – also known as “air pockets” in colloquial language – is caused by gusts of wind moving from top to bottom or from bottom to top. They change the flow on the wings and with it the lift: the plane drops or pulls up suddenly.

The authors had already established a link between the increase in turbulence and climate change in previous studies. Study co-author Paul Williams explains that at cruising altitude climate change will warm the area south of the jet stream more than the area north of it. The greater temperature difference leads to stronger wind shear – ie sharp changes in wind direction – and thus more turbulence.

And according to projections, they should continue to increase in the future as climate change progresses. “If we use supercomputers to simulate a future where the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is twice what it was in the pre-industrial era, we see about twice or even three times as much severe air turbulence,” Williams explained. . “Any extra amount of CO2 in the atmosphere means more temperature difference in the jet stream, which means more wind shear, which in turn means more apparent air turbulence.”

Turbulence is annoying for passengers, but even more so for the crew, who have to go through the cabin at this time, emphasizes Patrick Vrancken of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne. They also meant stress for the pilots.

Severe turbulence also carries the risk of injury. After all: “Constructively, aircraft have been built sufficiently strong for decades,” says Vrancken. “Even a few percent increase in turbulence intensity wouldn’t change this.”

According to the study’s authors, turbulence costs industry between $150 and $500 million a year in the US alone. The costs arise from additional fatigue in the aircraft cabin, maintenance work, accidental damage to the aircraft or the treatment of crew and passenger injuries.

Turbulence also causes even more emissions. Air travel already contributes significantly to the climate crisis. It’s not just about carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Federal Environment Agency, the nitrogen oxides, aerosols and water vapor produced at high altitudes from the combustion of kerosene also contribute to warming the atmosphere. Flying is therefore the most climate-damaging way of moving.

According to DLR’s Patrick Vrancken, the aviation industry has been responding to the increasing turbulence for years. The main focus is on improving the prognosis. Researchers at DLR are working on a method that detects turbulence a few hundred meters in advance and allows the on-board computer to automatically take countermeasures.

(t-online, dpa)