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Climate change could affect transatlantic flights: study

Xinhua, February 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Planes flying between Europe and North America might spend an extra 2,000 hours in the air every year as climate change will lead to changing atmospheric conditions, according to a study published Wednesday by the University of Reading.

The study looked at the effects of doubling the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, which was projected to occur within the next few decades unless emissions are cut quickly.

The average jet-stream winds, a high-altitude wind blowing from west to east across the Atlantic, along the flight route between London's Heathrow airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International airport are predicted to become 15 percent faster in winter, increasing from 77 to 89 km per hour, with similar increases in the other seasons, according to the study.

As a result, New York-bound flights will become twice as likely to take over seven hours, suggesting that delayed arrivals will become increasingly common. While London-bound flights will become twice as likely to take under five hours and 20 minutes, implying that record-breaking crossing times will occur with increasing frequency in the future.

"The bad news for passengers is that westbound flights will be battling against stronger headwinds. The good news is that eastbound flights will be boosted by stronger tailwinds, but not enough to compensate for the longer westbound journeys. The net result is that roundtrip journeys will significantly lengthen," said study author Dr. Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading.

Due to the extra time spent in the air, transatlantic flights will burn an extra 22 million U.S. dollars worth of fuel annually, and will emit an extra 70 million kg of CO2, equivalent to the annual emissions of 7,100 British homes, according to the study.

Williams also said: "The jet stream encircles the globe, and there is one in the southern hemisphere too. It is possible that flights elsewhere in the world will also suffer from a similar jet stream effect." Endit