Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 84: Nov-Dec 1992 Issue Contents

Other pages Home Page Science Frontiers Online All Issues This Issue Sourcebook Project Sourcebook Subjects .

Atlantic Waves Getting Bigger

Above, we inserted a short, rather vague note on this phenomenon. We now have a bit more to report, although no one seems to have any answers.

"The North Atlantic is getting rougher -- much rougher. In the mid-1980s average waves in the ocean were 25 per cent higher than during the 1960s. More recent studies show that by the end of the 1980s the tops of the waves were 50 per cent higher, as measured by both instruments and estimated by sailors. .....

"The cause of the increasing choppiness of the waters of the North Atlantic is unclear. Waves are whipped up by strong winds, yet there has been no corresponding increase in wind speeds. [S.] Bacon believes that a clue may lie in the persistence of winds from a certain direction."

(Anonymous; "Making Waves in the North Atlantic," New Scientist, p. 10, August 29, 1992.)

From Science Frontiers #84, NOV-DEC 1992. © 1992-2000 William R. Corliss

---

Science Frontiers Sourcebook Project Reviewed in: Icarus: Volume 41, Issue 3, p. 470-470 1984, Vol.56:3, P.615 1983, Vol.58:3 June 1984, Vol.60:3 Dec 1984, Vol.72:3 Dec 1987 Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 81, no. 1 1987 American Journal of Physics, Volume 52, Issue 8, p. 764 August 1984 Quotes "Before opening the book, I set certain standards that a volume which treads into dangerous grounds grounds like this must meet. The author scrupulously met, or even exceeded those standards. Each phenomenon is exhaustively documented, with references to scientific journals [..] and extensive quotations" -- "Book Review: The moon and planets: a catalog of astronomical anomalies", The Sourcebook Project, 1985., Corliss, W. R., Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada>, Vol. 81, no. 1 (1987), p. 24., 02/1987