The latest research suggests that climate change will increase air turbulence. But it"™s impossible to say what role, if any, global warming has played in a spate of recent turbulence incidents that resulted in injuries on commercial flights.
"I wouldn"™t draw anything from it," said Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading in England who has studied the connection between atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and air turbulence. "Certainly there needs to be some [scientific] work done."
In the past five weeks, news reports and social media sites have been filled with stories and videos of screaming passengers being violently rocked by turbulence.
"All of a sudden, out of nowhere "” out of nowhere! "” I thought this was the end," passenger Gisela Arrow told WPLG in Miami after an Allegiant Air flight encountered heavy turbulence en route from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, to Pittsburgh.
That May 5 flight had to be diverted to Fort Lauderdale, where seven people were taken to a hospital…
