Global warming is making waves wild

The waves in the world each year, have become seas since 1948, an average of 0.4 per cent stronger, report Spanish researchers. The increase is closely correlated with the surface temperature of the oceans. The scientists suggest that the warming of the oceans leads to stronger winds, which escalates the seas. the Tobias Kühn

The average force of waves on the coasts of the oceans has increased between 1948 and 2008 by almost a third - a rise that is probably due to the concomitant warming of the world's oceans. A study by climate researchers at the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain, which was published in the journal Nature Communications .

With data from measurements and model calculations, they determined the so-called Wave Power, a measure for the energy that transmits a wave. Between 1948 and 2008, the rate of increase was, on average, about 0.4 percent per year. This initially sounds like a reasonable value. As with interest rate interest rate is a constant rate of increase, however, leads to an exponential growth, so the long-term effect is significant. In addition, the increase since 1994, even with an average of 2.3 percent per year.

if one Compares the growth of the wave of violence with the increase of the surface temperature in the oceans, the same Trend is recognizable. Even more: the fluctuations of temperature and wave energy tend to be mostly in the same direction. This finding suggests that the increased wave energy is substantially explained by more and stronger winds, which in turn is caused by global warming.

The wave of energy will probably continue to grow

Previously been examined in similar studies in most cases, only the heights of the waves. In particular, the extreme values show a similar Trend as the wave of energy. However, in consideration of the heights of waves, for example, under the table, how fast they move. In the measure of Wave Power, the "shaft power", both are taken into account. It is usually used to describe the usable power of a wave, for example, in a power plant. This size describes the actual effect of a wave on a shore. In addition, the Wave Power is better suited for the description of long-term developments, as the sizes that would be solely derived from the height of the waves, says the study. It could be similar to the carbon dioxide concentration, is a valuable indicator for global warming, suspected Inigo J. Losada, one of the authors.

by the end of this century, the authors predict a further increase of the global wave power to be 32 to 122 per cent. The large variation can be explained mainly by different before increase say for the temperature: The maximum increase in the force of the water is expected to be an average warming of 2 degrees. The authors of the study emphasize that these kind of are an extra treat extrapolations with caution; nevertheless, they were able to prove that the order of magnitude of the predicted waves agrees with the calculations of detailed model calculations.

the waves are rocking, the sea-level rise, so far, significantly more attention was paid to. Risk analyses should take into account both phenomena, warns Co-author Fernando J. Méndez. Everything else will lead to insufficient adaptation to climate change.

During the storm periods make the effect of the stronger waves are especially noticeable, the scientists write. You suspect, therefore, that, for example, strong hurricanes in the Caribbean occur in the future more frequently than in the past. Not good news for the coasts of the world.