Climate change is making flights longer
Flights requiring extra travel time due as a result of poor weather are common but according to a new study there are larger climactic influences that can affect the flight's duration as well.
Climate change has caused jet streams to become longer and the planes that have to battle these end up taking longer to make a round trip.
This won't make a huge amount of difference to passengers as it will generally only mean an extra few minutes are added to the flight time, but all of the increases do add up and the impact on both the airlines and the environment can be significant.
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Keeping planes in the air for a greater amount of time requires more fuel which can mean millions of dollars in additional expenses for carriers.
Extra flying time also causes more greenhouse gases to be released into the air - increasing the effects of climate change.
An author of the study has advice on how the problems can be rectified.
At this time, the airline industry constantly tracks changes in daily weather patterns but doesn't seem to look into those happening over a long period of time.
It has been suggested that doing this could allow for planning to better handle costs and delays associated with jet streams.
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