Wind generated surface waves are escalating view as necessary change in climate prediction both as moderator of the air to sea exchange and for its influence on coastal safety and marine through coastal erosion, infrastructure, offshore structure and shipping routes and designs. Surface waves have important impact on boat design and bluewater sailing.
Increasing warmer seas, rising sea levels are contributing to increase in important wave energy and wave height in various parts of the globe.
As the weather changes world wind pattern change so the ocean wave will alter as well. Various low pressure systems which generate high winds are becoming more intense and moving away from the equator and towards the poles.In the Southern Hemisphere, this mean more high winds over the Southern Ocean, driving mega waves. This swell in the Southern Ocean moves out into the Pacific Atlantic and Indian Oceans which means mega waves across the Southern Hemisphere and direction not encountered.Average wave heights in the Southern Ocean have increased by around 30 cm more than past 30 years. This may not sound like a lot. In the Northern Hemisphere, there is more land near to pole.
As ocean warm they heat the circulation of winds over the ocean and powerful winds drive mega waves. The important wave height is not changing equally around the globe.
To analyse long term trends researchers at Australia collect 4 billion measurement of wind speeds and wave heights collected from 31 satellite missions between 1985 and 2018 and data from 80 ocean buoys deployed around the world into a single dataset. The research search that there have been increase in mean wind speeds and wave height gathered fro 30 satellite mission between 1985 and 2018. The researchers find that there have been small rise in mean wind speed and wave height more than past 33 years. They found mega increase in heated conditions which they look as wind speed and wave height measurement that fall in the 90 percentile or above.
These changes may not hit those out there sailing the globe oceans. However they have crucial implication of understanding where to build infrastructure that survive those changes.