Climate crisis may be increasing jet stream turbulence, study finds
Source: The Guardian
Climate crisis may be increasing jet stream turbulence, study finds
Potential impacts of rise in vertical shear include longer, bumpier and dearer flights
Nicola Davis
@NicolaKSDavis
Thu 8 Aug 2019 15.29 BST Last modified on Thu 8 Aug 2019 19.45 BST
The climate crisis could be making transatlantic flights more bumpy, according to research into the impact of global heating on the jet stream.
Jet streams are powerful currents of air at the altitudes which planes fly. . They result from the air temperature gradient between the poles and the tropics, and reach speeds of up to 250mph (400kmph). They also sometimes meander.
Researchers say previous studies of the speed and location of the fastest part of the north Atlantic jet stream have found only small changes over time, although there are signs it is slowly shifting northward. Experts say the lack of dramatic alterations is because climate change produces competing effects at different altitudes.
The latest study, however, took a different approach. “Just because the speed isn’t changing, doesn’t mean the jet stream isn’t changing in other ways,” said Prof Paul Williams of the University of Reading, the lead author of the research.
His study, published in the journal Nature, looked at the change in wind speed with height, known as vertical shear. “The higher up you go, the windier it gets,” he said.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/08/climate-crisis-may-be-increasing-jet-stream-turbulence-study-finds
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Related: Increased shear in the North Atlantic upper-level jet stream over the past four decades (Nature)