Climate change is behind increasing flight turbulence, Transportation Sec’y Pete Buttigieg says

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says that climate change is one of the culprits behind an increase in flight turbulence. “The reality is, the effects of climate change are already upon us in terms of our transportation,” Buttigieg said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, forecasting that turbulence is something that will continue to “affect American travelers, whether here or abroad.” “We’ve seen that in the form of everything from heat waves that shouldn’t statistically even be possible threatening to melt the cables of transit systems in the Pacific Northwest, to, as you mentioned, hurricane seasons becoming more and more extreme and indications that turbulence is up by about 15%,” he continued. “That means assessing anything and everything that we can do about it.” A study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters last year found that there have been increases in clear-air turbulence (CAT) between 1979 and 2020, with “severe-or-greater” turbulence – the strongest category of CAT – becoming 55% more frequent over the North Atlantic over the course of that time period. “Our climate is evolving,” Buttigieg said. “Our policies and our technology and our infrastructure have to evolve accordingly, too.” His comments come as turbulence has wreaked havoc on a number of flights so far this year. While Buttigieg called the deadly turbulence on the Singapore Airlines flight “very rare,” he added that “turbulence can happen and sometimes it can happen unexpectedly.” “Now, there are protocols and patterns for things like how pilots who encounter turbulence can notify those who might be coming in the path,” he said. “But I do think we need to continually re-evaluate that in the face of the reality that these things are more frequent and more severe than before.”<br/>