The Sunday Times reports:
THE Mediterranean could start generating its own hurricanes if sea temperatures keep rising, a study has warned.
At present hurricanes, originating far out in the Atlantic, blow westwards towards the Caribbean and America’s Gulf coast, and leave Europe’s coastline unscathed.
Now scientists warn that climate change means that the Mediterranean is warming up so much it stores enough heat to trigger the formation of its own hurricanes. They say this will have important implications for the safety of resorts, residents and holidaymakers.
“We have detected for the first time a risk of tropical cyclone [hurricane] development over the Mediterranean based on anthropogenic [man-made] climate change,” said Miguel Gaertner, lead researcher at the environ-mental sciences faculty of the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo, Spain.
