, Columnist
It’s Getting Too Hot for Airplanes
Planes have less lift when the mercury rises, making it harder to take off and adding to flight delays and other disruptions.
Too hot to handle.
Photographer: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
Lest 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 airplanes 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 stay aloft.