Flight turbulence has been on an uptick lately, with a number of flights this year hitting increased turbulence in the air, with some encounters ending in injuries and even one death. The culprit of the increased turbulence we’re seeing? Climate change. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg revealed that climate change is one of the culprits behind the increase in turbulent encounters that flights have seen this year.
Further, the research found that the strongest category of flight turbulence, “severe-or-greater,” became 55 percent more frequent over the North Atlantic over that time period. Buttigieg says that “our climate is evolving” and that we need to evolve accordingly. Thankfully, the deaths I mentioned before have still been exceptionally rare.