It’s getting too hot for aeroplanes

Heat causes far more flight delays than even snow and ice. (Image: Bloomberg)

Sun, 06 Aug 2023

By Mark Gongloff, with assistance from Brooke SutherlandLest you think air travel couldn’t possibly get more miserable, climate change is here to prove you wrong.Just as extreme heat makes people sluggish and unproductive at best, and threatens human life at worst, it also makes flying aeroplanes much more difficult. Hot air is less dense than cold air, its molecules zipping around at higher speeds, meaning planes have less lift when the mercury rises. That makes it harder for them to take off, and to stay aloft.Airlines and pil...

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