The Increase of Turbulence Affecting Aircraft

Floor Speech

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Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of a bill I authored that is included in the FAA package to research severe turbulence and the impact of climate change on the flight forecasts.

Turbulence is the top cause of injuries to both passengers and crew. My bill improves the FAA's understanding of turbulence to better inform safety measures for flight crews and the flying public.

Last month, a scientific study analyzed 40 years of high-quality atmospheric data. The researchers found severe clear-air turbulence increased 55 percent from 1979 due to climate change.

Further, other recent studies have shown that turbulence will increase significantly as the climate changes, with the most severe turbulence increasing by 149 percent over the next several decades.

We should all be concerned about the rise of turbulence and the projected increase in the years ahead.

Unfortunately, scientists and researchers have reported their difficulty in calculating turbulence due to limited data coverage.

That is why the FAA needs better tools and research to address passenger safety amid this threat to air travel. The FAA research we support today means that tomorrow, Americans will fly safer.

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