Just days earlier, a 73-year-old man died and more than 70 others were injured as a result of turbulence on aTurbulence is caused by “wind shear”, which is changes in wind speed at different heights in the atmosphere, said Giles Harrison, a professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading.
Turbulence that occurs outside of clouds is known as “clear air” turbulence. This typically occurs around the jet stream, the fast flowing ‘ribbons’ of air that travel west to east above the Earth’s surface. The scientists found that severe clear air turbulence had increased by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020 on a typical North Atlantic route. Flight routes in the USA and North Atlantic saw the largest increase in turbulence, while Europe, the Middle East and South Atlantic also all saw significant increases.According to the research, the increase in turbulence is due to the jet stream becoming less stable, causing greater differences in wind speed.
While the study focused solely on turbulence caused by the jet stream, Prof Harrison said there may also be an increase in turbulence due to a growing number of thunderstorms, however this has not been proven. He said jet stream turbulence is of greater concern as pilots are able to trace and avoid storms.