Waves in Europe are getting higher, threatening coastal residents

Massive waves poured over English sea defenses during the cold and stormy winter of 2013-2014. These waves were the most powerful scientists have ever recorded on Europe’s Atlantic coastline.

The storms that generated these waves may have been unusually intense, but they were part of a trend that is putting coastal communities at greater risk. In a study published this week in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists found that wave heights have risen everywhere along the west coast of Europe — from Scotland down to coastlines north of Portugal — over nearly the last 70 years. 

Taller waves can wash over traditional defenses against storms, and flood communities that lie behind these sea walls.  Read more…

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