Nervous flyers are now facing a new fear — an increase of "severe air turbulence" due to global warming, scientists say.
"When we think of global warming we're usually thinking about the fact that it's getting warmer at ground level," Dr. Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading, told The Telegraph.
"But in fact the temperatures are changing higher up in the atmosphere including where planes fly at 35,000 feet.
"The atmospheric winds and temperatures up there are very strongly tied together and therefore the winds are changing in response to the temperature temperatures. As the climate changes the odds of encountering turbulence on your flight are increasing."
There have been increasing instances of nerve-shattering turbulence in recent years, including an incident last month in which a United Airlines flight traveling from Houston to London was forced to land in Ireland, where 16 passengers were taken to the hospital for injuries.