An aeroplane on its way from London to Singapore is cruising over the Irrawaddy Basin in Myanmar when it violently lurches upwards and then immediately plummets downwards for half a second, falling 54 metres , then up again for four seconds, down, up, down, like a nightmarish airborne rollercoaster. The incident lasts five seconds , but the impact is terrible. Passengers are projected into the air.
Some are seen somersaulting through the cabin, slamming against the overhead bins, in a few cases with such sickening force their heads knock a dent in them. One man dies, dozens are injured. Later, it is explained that in incidents of extreme turbulence anything not secured – this includes passengers – will continue moving in the original direction while the plane takes a different course.
Clear air turbulence is the immediate explanation; the underlying cause is, of course, climate change. The signs, big and small, are everywhere: a drumbeat of dire warnings, terrifying headlines and, more often now, evidence we can see with our own eyes. This week’s batch of alarming news includes reports from Delhi , where the temperature has risen above 50 degrees Celsius and hospitals have begun opening heat stroke wards.
And reports from Antarctica , where the disconcertingly named “Doomsday Glacier” – twice the size of Ireland – is melting “faster than anticipated”. And from Japan , where a prolonged “earthquake storm” is attributed, probably, to climate change. READ M.