Buckle up for a rough ride

Whilst Trump pulls back on anything to do with climate change - borne out of ignorance - now comes news that we can expect rougher and bumpier flights because of climate change.

"Keep that seat belt buckled ? it could be a bumpy flight. New research predicts that severe clear air turbulence in the stratosphere could increase by 149% because of climate change.

That is because global warming, driven in part by the colossal fossil fuel consumption of today’s massive global jetliner fleet, is expected to generate stronger wind shear within the stratospheric jetstreams.

Paul Williams, a meteorologist at the University of Reading in the UK, reports in the Advances in Atmospheric Sciences journal that he used supercomputer simulations to test the rise in rough rides and scary moments at altitudes of 9,000 metres across the Atlantic if carbon dioxide ratios in the atmosphere double ? as they could this century, unless drastic action is taken to reduce emissions.

Light turbulence will increase by 59%, light to moderate by 75%, moderate to severe by 127%, and the really bad jolts associated with severe turbulence go up by 149%."

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Robert Fisk's predictions for the Middle East in 2013

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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