Global Warming To Blame For Rising Air Turbulence Says Expert

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Meteorological department director-general Helmi Abdullah said air travel remains one of the safest modes of transportation, boasting a lower accident rate in comparison to road and sea transport. (File pic)PETALING JAYA: Rising global temperatures are expected to increase the incidence of high intensity air turbulence similar to the one experienced on a recent Singapore Airlines flight that left 20 passengers injured and one dead.
Meteorological department (MetMalaysia) director-general Helmi Abdullah said climate change affects the flow of jet streams, the narrow bands of strong winds that generally blow from west to east across the globe.
“Studies have shown a 50% increase in air turbulence over the North Atlantic caused by jet stream flow from 1979 to 2020,” he told FMT.
The 211 passengers on board the plane flying from London to Singapore did not know what hit them.

Many were tossed upwards, hitting the ceiling in the cabin just as they were finishing breakfast about 10 hours into the 13-hour flight.
The turbulence, which lasted three to five minutes, was a sudden and severe swirl of air currents. Normally referred to as clear air turbulence, it can happen on a cloudless day and cause violent buffeting to a plane.
According to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters in 2023, the incidence of clear air turbulence has increased by 41% over the past four decades, as warmer air caused by carbon dioxide emissions leads to stronger wind shear at higher altitudes.
Helmi Abdullah.Helmi said global warming will also lead to an increase in turbulence caused by extreme convective clouds, such as cumulonimbus clouds.
These clouds are formed when warm air near the ground rises, then cools down and condenses into droplets when the air is moist, a process called convection.
Inside a cumulonimbus cloud, the updrafts and downdrafts of moving air can rise to speeds of up to 50 knots, causing severe turbulence.
Nevertheless, Helmi stressed that air travel remains one of the safest modes of transportation, boasting a lower accident rate in comparison with road and sea transport.
“Aeroplanes are generally built to withstand strong turbulence. Additionally, technology for detecting turbulence will continue to evolve and improve over time to make flying safer in the future,” he said.
Pilots experiencing increased turbulence
John Sham.Captain John Sham from Layang Layang Flying Academy said although pilots have seen more turbulence in the past few years, they are trained to make informed decisions to steer clear of hazardous weather conditions.
“However, in (the Singapore Airlines case), it is very likely to have encountered clear air turbulence, which is challenging to avoid as it doesn’t appear on weather radar,” he told FMT.
He advised passengers to be attentive during pre-flight safety briefings, saying that they should also remain vigilant and wear their seat belts at all times.
Harridon Suffian.Aviation expert Harridon Suffian agreed, saying he has experienced increased turbulence around the Bay of Bengal, the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean.
He said pilots typically divert their aircraft to regions or airspace with benign and laminar or smooth air flow, but clear air turbulence is more difficult to detect using current technology.
“Being proficient in interpreting data and using probabilistic mathematical models, one can estimate the likelihood of clear air turbulence in certain areas and take precautions to avoid those regions,” he told FMT.
The associate professor at Universiti Kuala Lumpur advised passengers to fasten their seat belts especially during instances of turbulence.
He said this significantly reduces the risk of being thrown about in different directions when turbulence intensifies. - FMT

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