As if you weren’t frightened enough already.
To some, flying can be a scary experience. Even the smoothest of flights will have you clinging onto the leg of the person beside you, whether you know them or not.
Your ears frantically pop, the slightest shake of the plane makes your stomach do somersaults and all in all, you’d rather be travelling in something you were in control of and that was firmly fixed to the ground.
Well, you’re not going to like to hear this but your flying experience could be about to get a whole lot worse in years to come…
A group of scientists have said that climate change will cause serious flight turbulence to occur three times as much by 2050.
The researchers from the University of Reading used supercomputer technology to determine how much turbulence there would be during journeys.
The scientists’ full letter was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
They found that popular paths will be the ones worst affected and the chances of a rough patch flying over the North Atlantic could potentially increase by 180%.
Turbulence while flying over Europe has been estimated to increase by 160% and North America will increase by 110%.
They studied all aspects of turbulence from mild shaking to severe turbulence where passengers are put under forces stronger than gravity.
Professor Paul Williams, the paper’s lead researcher, said: “This problem is only going to worsen as the climate continues to change.
“Our study highlights the need to develop improved turbulence forecasts, which could reduce the risk of injuries to passengers and lower the cost of turbulence to airlines.”
As well as their discovery about turbulence, Williams and Co also state that flying will become more expensive and changes in the temperature will mean that flights will become slower.
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