As we have already seen the pandemic is sort of like a war in that this pandemic has already killed as many American Soldiers as in World WAR I, World War II and the Viet Nam war and likely many more wars including the Revolutionary war and the Civil war before we are done with it (if ever).
So, now add to this how many will die (slowly or quickly) from losing homes and livelihoods and their lives through Hurricanes, tornadoes, Earthquakes and high wind events that will blow down homes made with wood all over the world to where people might ONLY build with rocks and cement and iron rebar because everything else will just eventually blow away completely.
I often bring up the winds because I want to impress on people that the winds above 200 to 300 mph is what humans are least prepared for long term on both land and sea. This will eventually cause more ships to have to travel underwater than above water for example, because it will just be too rough to travel above water in many locations around the world. This will also be true of cargo ships whether they are container ships or carrying oil or other things. So, eventually there will be more ships that will be able to travel underwater carrying cargo or who in better weather can travel above the water at great speeds as well when they want to.
The other problem with the winds is that air travel will be affected to where you have to get to as high of an altitude as possible as quickly as possible and it might be that rockets or JATO rockets that assist takeoffs might help take airplanes to great altitudes. But, landings will become more and more problematic.
For example, the last time I landed in a passenger jet on Kauai, Hawaii at Lihue we landed sideways and the crew thought it would take us into a crash into the ocean there. However, the pilot was amazing on the pedals and quickly straightened us out from a sideways wind shear landing and saved the crew and the passengers which was likely the scariest landing of a passenger plane I have ever been in in my life. We heard the crew questioning whether they wanted to do this for a living anymore after this near death landing too.
As a pilot of small aircraft myself I understand just what a feat it was for him to react quickly enough to save us from disaster.
I have heard that landings like this are becoming more and more common as global Warming is changing the way everything in the weather patterns function worldwide too. So, expecting more landing disasters should be the realistic approach to flying around the world at this point. Because global warming is only going to make all this much worse over time.
Why do you need to get to higher altitudes?
Because the air is much thinner and forgiving at higher altitudes from about 20,000 feet to 70,000 feet in altitude so you can still travel at great speeds with less wind effects and still be supported by the air because you are traveling so fast. But, even at altitude you are going to have to slow down so you won't rip the wings off of planes as winds above a certain level hit the planes especially severe up and down drafts which suddenly move the plane hundreds or thousands of feet vertically up or down or sideways.
I remember one flight I took home to San Francisco from Incheon Island in South Korea when I was visiting my son and his wife and son who lived there then. Out of 11 or 12 hours flying home to San Francisco about 7 to 8 or 9 hours of that time we bumped and bumped and bumped to the point where silverware from my food tray was flying through the air and some soup too. I tried to tell the Singapore Air Lines stewardess what was happening but I don't know if she understood my English or not that silverware had gone down inside the mechanism of the seat next to me. I was flying in business class which had seats at that time where they turn into a lounge chair so you can sleep while flying but the mechanism was electric that unfolded the seat to a full reclining position and the silverware was now down inside the seat next to me. So, it likely was going to short out when it was next used (the fold out mechanism on the then vacant seat) from forks getting into the gears or something.
Since most passengers were businessmen we all toughed out this ride high over a Cyclone they call them instead of Hurricanes in this part of the world. But, it was sort of feeling like we were in a war or something because the bumps (sort of like a carnival ride) went on for hours and hours never ending.
Finally I had to go to the bathroom and the stewardess said: "Don't get up it's not safe!" And I said to her: "I have to get up or I'm going to wet this seat!" Bouncing up and down just made the situation worse and worse. Even the stewardesses had to grab seats and anything they could grab not to be hitting their heads on the ceiling of the plane.
On one trip back to Hawaii when I lived there in 1989 and 1990 I saw a stewardess hit the ceiling with her body during a severe down draft. But, luckily men grabbed her out of the air so she didn't injure anyone when she eventually fell back down from the ceiling of the plane. Everyone was scrambling to put on seat belts who had taken them off that trip. This is why when you are sitting on a plane flying you should always have your seat belt on fairly loose in case there is a severe down draft or side slip. The only time you should take off your seat belt is to go to the bathroom and even then be very careful.
So, it is still sort of unknown how people are going to survive pandemics and global Climate change this century. Republicans are often in denial of all of this because they don't want it to interfere with them making money but eventually survival is the most important thing for everyone.
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