Reviewing the impacts of climate change on air transport operations

Gratton, G. B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9925-5086, Williams, P. D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9713-9820, Padhra, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2351-7235 and Rapsomanikis, S. (2022) Reviewing the impacts of climate change on air transport operations. The Aeronautical Journal, 126 (1295). pp. 209-221. ISSN 0001-9240 doi: 10.1017/aer.2021.109

Abstract/Summary

Climate change is increasing global-mean tropospheric temperatures, but the localised trends are uneven, including cooling the lower stratosphere and lifting the tropopause. The wind speeds are also being modified, both at the surface and aloft. A further effect, additional to wind and temperature alone, is of increasing fluctuations and severity of extreme weather. These are impacting air transport, and this will continue. The effects are known to include increased take-off distances where excess runway lengths exist and reduced payloads where they do not, increased en-route flight times, increased frequency and severity of encounters with clear air turbulence in some regions, changed patterns of wildlife — particularly bird — activity in some regions (potentially also for other anthropogenic reasons) are shifting locations of flight safety hazards, and increased burdens upon airport and associated infrastructure. There is increasing understanding and acknowledgment by companies and authorities of these effects and the importance of mitigating them, although this is not universal and there are as yet no universally understood best practices for air transport climate change mitigation.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/101661
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/aer.2021.109
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item