GENEVA — The World Meteorological Organization has officially declared the jet stream too unstable for routine atmospheric travel and has begun installing a continuous system of steel guardrails, emergency pull-off bays and toll booths along the entire 16,000-kilometre route of the northern polar jet.
«For a quarter of a century we watched this current drift, buckle and occasionally park itself over the British Isles for three weeks at a time,» said WMO infrastructure director Helene Vautard, standing beside a freshly welded section of railing anchored to the stratosphere at an altitude of 10,000 metres. «We finally accepted that the jet stream cannot be trusted to stay in its lane, so we are giving it a lane.»
The project, dubbed JetGuard, employs 4,300 certified high-altitude welders who work in rotating shifts aboard tethered platforms, bolting galvanised barriers to the tropopause at intervals of every 40 kilometres. Each section carries reflective markers, a wind-speed display and a small sign reading «No Overtaking During Blocking Events.»
Meteorologists in Toulouse have already logged the first success: a low-pressure system that attempted to stall over the Bay of Biscay last Tuesday was gently nudged eastward by the railing and completed its journey to the Baltic in under 48 hours. «It tried to meander,» Vautard said, «but the guardrail held it to a perfectly straight line.»
Aviation authorities have welcomed the measure, though pilots report a new hazard: seagulls perched on the railings at 10,000 metres, apparently enjoying the view. The WMO has responded by installing anti-perch spikes along the most scenic sections, and next month begins work on a second lane for the subtropical jet, complete with its own rest area and a single toll booth staffed by a retired air-traffic controller.