Turbulence is getting worse and you'll never guess why!

Nobody enjoys turbulence while flying but it may be something people will have to learn to deal with if recent science on the problem is correct. Turbulence is getting worse and it's likely only to keep affecting flights more and more.

Turbulence is apparently getting worse all throughout the world’s skies and the situation isn’t likely to improve according to a new study looking at how turbulence has changed over time. 

Climate change has increased the amount of turbulence fliers experience but there is a rather insidious type of bumpy air people need to be worried about: clean air turbulence. 

Clean air turbulence is a type of rough air that comes on with little to no warning and is caused by wind sheers in the jet stream at cruising altitudes according to USA Today. 

This definition might sound complicated but all it really means is that there are turbulent pockets of air created when jet streams traveling at varying speeds and directions meet in the sky. 

This type of turbulence can be a really nasty experience that can push a plane around and cause it to wobble, which in turn can lead to injury for those not wearing a seatbelt. 

Clean air turbulence is all the more dangerous because it occurs above 15,000 where it is impossible to see due to the lack of clouds and doesn’t show up on modern radars USA Today reported.

Unfortunately, this type of turbulence is on the rise according to a research letter published in June 2023 in the journal by a group of scientists in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters—and you won’t believe the increase. 

The researchers found that at the typical average point in a route over the Northern Atlantic, clean air turbulence increased from 466.5 hours in 1979 up to 546.8 hours in 2020. 

This figure represented a 17% increase in clean air turbulence over the course of the previous four decades and the researcher noted this phenomenon is being seen all over the United States. 

Interestingly, the researchers also found that it was severe-or-great clean air turbulence that has increased the most in the last four decades, occurring 55% more frequently in 2020. 

"Turbulence makes flights bumpy and can occasionally be dangerous,” explained study lead author Mark Prosser in a statement included in a press release on the research. 

Prosser warned that airlines need to start thinking about ways to manage turbulence since it can cost the industry between $150 million to $500 million annually in the U.S. alone. 

“Every additional minute spent traveling through turbulence increases wear-and-tear on the aircraft, as well as the risk of injuries to passengers and flight attendants,” Prosser added. 

The largest increases in turbulence occurred over North America’s air routes but other regions of the world have experienced significant increases as well—including routes over Europe and the Middle East as well as those over South Asia and the Pacific. 

Climate change was found to be the culprit behind the increase in turbulence and things will only get worse according to the future climate models Prosser studied with his fellow researchers. 

“Following a decade of research showing that climate change will increase clear-air turbulence in the future, we now have evidence suggesting that the increase has already begun,” explained the University of Readings Paul Williams in a statement. 

“We should be investing in improved turbulence forecasting and detection systems, to prevent the rougher air from translating into bumpier flights in the coming decades,” Williams continued. Let's hope those investments come sooner rather than later!