<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/20/climate-crisis-fuelled-storm-that-sank-yacht-in-sicily-say-experts>
"Record temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea this summer contributed to the
freak storm that sank a superyacht off the coast of Sicily, with similar
extreme events expected to increase in frequency and intensity as the climate
crisis tightens its grip, Italian scientists have said.
One person is confirmed to have died and rescuers are searching for six missing
people, including the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old
daughter, Hannah, after the 56-metre
Bayesian capsized in the early hours of
Monday.
The vessel is thought to have been struck off the coast of Porticello, near
Palermo, by a tornadic waterspout, a whirling column of air and water mist that
has the same characteristics as a land tornado.
Sea temperatures in the Mediterranean have reached 30C, three degrees higher
than average, during two months of consecutive heatwaves, the most recent of
which was broken at the weekend by a sudden blast of cold air and heavy storms
across Italy.
Sicily had also been grappling with a months-long drought. The sea surface
temperature around the southern Italian island on Monday was between 27.3C and
30.5C.
Luca Mercalli, the president of the Italian Meteorological Society, said the
high temperatures created a huge amount of energy, which made the storms more
intense.
“For example, 30 years ago an event of this kind might have brought winds of
100kmh,” he said. “Today it’s 150kmh because sea temperatures of three degrees
higher means an enormous quantity of energy for storms, and when cold air
arrives it’s explosive.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
