Once again, a widely publicized tragedy is being blamed on man-caused global warming.
Warming alarmists have often bemoaned air travel saying it increases the threat of global warming [1], but this time they’re blaming the phenomenon for the tragedy surrounding Air France Flight 447. That flight is believed to have crashed in the Atlantic Ocean and have claimed up to 228 lives [2].
Alexei Kokorin, a climatologist for the left-wing World Wildlife Fund’s Russia Climate Program, blamed global warming for the crash. He told Russia Today (RT) on June 4 [3] global warming is to blame for making the weather conditions some think is to blame for the crash more severe [4].
“A consequence of global warming is that the frequency and severity of such events (severe weather conditions) is higher,” Kokorin said. “Unfortunately, the risk for airplanes, especially in tropical areas above water, will be higher. This could be difficult for pilots to understand.”
Kokorin told RT this is true for all meteorological events and not just those near the equatorial tropics – something politicians and activists have used [5] as a talking point over the years.
“We are seeing the same with other (meteorological) events… We see more powerful typhoons than before. We see more powerful cyclones from the North Atlantic, which causes very heavy rainfall and floods in
The WWF climatologist also urged airlines to reconsider their routing for some destinations to “minimize the risks.”
The RT article asked if it was still safe to fly, even though the story reported industry experts say modern aircraft “can handle anything that Mother Nature can throw at them.”
Following airplane tragedies the media often frighten would be passengers which can hurt the industry. Over the last 10 years, the airline industry has suffered various setbacks financially including the terrorists’ attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, which hit the industry hard. [6] More recently, higher oil prices have take a toll on airlines [7], causing higher fares and fees and cutbacks in service.