Global Warming May Be Reducing Wind Speeds in Europe

Global warming makes Europe’s summers less windy, which reduces wind power generation and could strain European electricity systems which are increasingly relying on renewable energy, new research suggests. The warming of the layer of the atmosphere closest to the surface and the warming of the earth’s surface are increasing the instances of the so-called “stilling” phenomenon in which wind speeds drop in the summers, according to modeling from a team of researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign cited by…