Sailing in the Mediterranean “More Dangerous” Due to Global Warming
Climate experts and ship captains say that the wreck of the luxury yacht anchored off the coast of Sicily is the latest indication that sailing in the Mediterranean has become more dangerous.
One man died, and six people are still missing, including British businessman Mike Lynch, after a violent storm struck the 56-meter-long “Bajian” sailboat on Monday, causing it to sink within minutes.
Global Warming Storms
Climate scientists say that global warming is making such violent and unexpected storms more frequent in a sea used by millions of tourists as a summer playground, including a few wealthy individuals sailing on luxury yachts.
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Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian Meteorological Society, said that sea surface temperatures around Sicily in the days leading up to the shipwreck were around 30°C, about 3°C higher than average.
He told Reuters: “This creates a huge energy source that contributes to these storms.”
Experienced sailors, like Massimo Aramo, who runs the Aqua sailing school on the coast near the Italian capital, are noticing the changes occurring in the “Mare Nostrum,” as the ancient Romans referred to the Mediterranean.
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Aramo, currently sailing around Greece, said he does not like sailing along the Italian Tyrrhenian coast around Sicily or the Spanish Balearic Islands, as “critical situations often arise with little warning.”
Last week, a storm similar to the one that sank the Bajian hit the Balearic archipelago, including Ibiza and Mallorca, causing many yachts to be swept ashore.
Giuliano Gallo, a former captain who has crossed the Atlantic, said that the Mediterranean is becoming more like the Caribbean, with areas many boats avoid at certain times of the year.
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He added: “Things are less predictable in the Mediterranean.”
Another sign of the increasing volatility of the Mediterranean climate appeared last year when thousands of people died in Libya due to sudden floods caused by a powerful Mediterranean storm, fueled by rising sea temperatures.
Carsten Boerner, captain of the boat moored next to the Bajian but who escaped damage, said Monday’s storm was “very violent, very intense, there was a lot of water, and I think it formed a spinning system similar to a cyclone.”
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He explained that the frequent bouts of extreme heat during the summer months play a key role in causing such storms.
He added: “The waters… are very hot for the Mediterranean climate, which certainly causes violent storms, like the one we saw last week in the Balearic Islands, and the one we saw two years ago in Corsica, and so on.”
