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Transatlantic Flights May Cost More and Become Longer due to Climate Change, says Study
Yet another victim claimed by climate change is the travel across transatlantic sector, making the westbound flights loner as well as pricier with an extra spend of $22 million per year on fuel. According to a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, jet stream winds are expected to grow stronger, making it tougher for the planes to fly westward. However, the good news is that the flights from US to Europe will become 15% shorter.
Jet stream is caused by the shift in temperature that happens at high altitudes between polar and tropical regions. When the temperature changes, it increases the flow of jet stream. While individually, the change in winds only add up a minute and 18 seconds to each trip, but when this change is viewed across all the flights in a year, the environmental impact and fuel prices begin to accumulate, reports NBC News.
"There is a robust increase in the round-trip journey time, which means planes spending longer in the air," study author Dr. Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading, told the BBC. "When you add that up for all transatlantic aircraft you get an extra 2,000 hours of planes in the air every year, with $22 million extra in fuel costs and 70 million kg of CO2."
"The aviation industry is facing pressure to reduce its environmental impacts, but this study shows a new way in which aviation is itself susceptible to the effects of climate change," Dr Williams said. "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. "This effect will increase the fuel costs to airlines, potentially raising ticket prices, and it will worsen the environmental impacts of aviation," according to Huffington Post
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