T
here is a lot of worry about the weather today. Perhaps caused by
global warming or just “climate change”, there seems to be much
more violent weather about. At sea, and on the coast, there seems to
be more damage being done. In those areas where there are hurricanes,
typhoons and other sorts of revolving storms, they seem to be more numerous
and do a lot more damage. Perhaps it is a phase we are going through?
Scientists are divided about whether this is really the case. It seems true that
there are more giant waves about, and naval architects are becoming
concerned whether designing ships or structures for that “100 year wave” is
enough, as they chances are that these monsters will appear more often. But
some suggest that the frequency of these giant waves is more apparent, as we
can record them from space, through satellites, and not have to depend on
some poor sailor meeting one for the report.
The incidence of huge storms has, it has alleged, been increasing. But
meteorologists who track hurricanes and typhoons suggest that their
incidence does not really seem to be changing, although when they hit land,
the chances of huge damage is far greater, because of man's insistence of
building on the coasts. And it is worth pointing out that the great river deltas
of the world, which very often seem to see disastrous flooding, tend to be
subsiding because of the weight of all that silt.
There are, however, pronounced cycles in the weather, which is just one
feature of the complex interaction between oceans and atmosphere, the ocean
currents, and the winds and the weather. Major changes, like the El Nino and
La Nina events in the South Pacific, where whole weather patterns are
reversed, tend to have dramatic knock-on effects in other oceans and
hemispheres, with droughts, storms and other unexpected phenomena.
Other things affect our perception of the weather at sea. We are better
informed about bad weather, so much of what might have just passed by is
now noted and logged. There is a greater intensity of marine operations, and
ships which may have in an earlier age remained tied up in port is the weather
was bad, go out and weather the storm! There is also a tendency to run ships
faster in bad weather, risking damage.
Think of all those containers which end up in the sea after falling off
containerships, and ships dragging their anchors in heavy weather
roadsteads. It is the way we are operating ships today that might also make a
difference to our perception of more bad weather.
But there is also a general belief that climate change, or warming of the
tropical regions is having an effect upon weather, that may show up in
increased local storminess. It is a challenge to everyone in the shipping
industry, from those who design ships, to those who go to sea in them.