FLYING

 Daily Passport -  If you fly a lot, chances are that you’re no stranger to turbulence. It’s not rare for the fasten-seatbelt light to be switched on midway through a flight, nor is it uncommon for passengers to experience short periods of bumpiness. Even though it can be unpleasant, turbulence is usually mild and rarely anything to worry about. But if you travel often and have been noticing more frequent bumps in the sky, you’re not alone: According to recent reports, flight turbulence is on the rise...

According to a 2023 study carried out by the University of Reading in the U.K., one particular kind of turbulence known as clear air turbulence is becoming far more likely to impact flights than in previous years.Clear air turbulence is caused when different air masses collide, each with varying wind speeds and directions. In the findings, published in the Geophysical Research Letters journal, datasets taken between 1979 and 2020 demonstrated large increases in clear air turbulence of all magnitudes. Particularly worrisome is that incidences of severe turbulence grew by 55%.