Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => The Environment => Topic started by: thedoc on 10/04/2013 15:52:10

Title: Will climate change make flights bumpier?
Post by: thedoc on 10/04/2013 15:52:10

Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide could lead to more clear-air turbulence, leading to bumpier and more expensive transatlantic flights.

Read the whole story on our  website by clicking here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/news/news/1000133/)

  

Title: Re: Will climate change make flights bumpier?
Post by: chris on 11/04/2013 21:48:56

I saw this proposed, but I'm not sure I understand the basis of the claim that CO2 will cause heterogeneous heating in the atmosphere, which will trigger the pressure differences that will cause the increased winds.

Is this just because more CO2 in the atmosphere means that illuminated parts of the Earth's surface will pass more heat into those parts of the atmosphere and so the pressure differential will be higher?

Chris

Title: Re: Will climate change make flights bumpier?
Post by: yor_on on 14/04/2013 21:58:50

That one is pretty interesting. Ever heard of 'gravity waves'? If you haven't you're excused because neither had I :) until I started to look into what you asked.

"New research by NCAR researchers and collaborators points to gravity waves, which ripple unseen through the atmosphere, as the culprit in many cases of clear-air turbulence. If those waves can be forecast, the research suggests that planes in many cases could be rerouted around them.

Gravity waves are a common atmospheric phenomenon. They are caused when air is forced upward, generally over mountains or in thunderstorms, and bumps up against the stable floor of the stratosphere. This sets off ripples that can travel hundreds of miles before breaking. (Gravity waves are unrelated to gravitational waves, which are perturbations in the gravitational field.)" From Triggering turbulence in clear air. (https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/research/8703/triggering-turbulence-clear-air)

If that is correct one can assume that with more heat in a system you will find more and stronger turbulence, at least globally, even if locations may differ locally.  I found this table, although not the paper referred too, that relates to their predictions though, and it seems as they have taken a lot of possible parameters into consideration there. Northern North Atlantic flight-level winter clear-air turbulence in a changing climate. (http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/fig_tab/nclimate1866_T1.html)

Title: Re: Will climate change make flights bumpier?
Post by: chris on 16/04/2013 08:40:23

Gosh, thank you; I had not come across this phenomenon; the name is confusingly bad though isn't it?!

Title: Re: Will climate change make flights bumpier?
Post by: yor_on on 23/04/2013 22:19:01

Yea :)

I was trying to see what connection it had to gravity as soon as I saw it, leaving me sorely confused..