Future behavior of wind wave extremes due to climate change

Extreme waves will undergo changes in the future when exposed to different climate change scenarios. These changes are evaluated through the analysis of significant wave height (H-s) return values and are also compared with annual mean H-s projections. Hourly time series are analyzed through a seven-member ensemble of wave climate simulations and changes are estimated in H-s for return periods from 5 to 100 years by the end of the century under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. Despite the underlying uncertainty that characterizes extremes, we obtain robust changes in extreme H-s over more than approximately 25% of the ocean surface. The results obtained conclude that increases cover wider areas and are larger in magnitude than decreases for higher return periods. The Southern Ocean is the region where the most robust increase in extreme H-s is projected, showing local increases of over 2 m regardless the analyzed return period under RCP8.5 scenario. On the contrary, the tropical north Pacific shows the most robust decrease in extreme H-s, with local decreases of over 1.5 m. Relevant divergences are found in several ocean regions between the projected behavior of mean and extreme wave conditions. For example, an increase in H-s return values and a decrease in annual mean H-s is found in the SE Indian, NW Atlantic and NE Pacific. Therefore, an extrapolation of the expected change in mean wave conditions to extremes in regions presenting such divergences should be adopted with caution, since it may lead to misinterpretation when used for the design of marine structures or in the evaluation of coastal flooding and erosion.

Automated summary

The study shows that extreme waves will undergo significant changes in the future under different climate change scenarios, with the Southern Ocean projected to experience robust increases in extreme wave heights while the tropical north Pacific is expected to see substantial decreases. Additionally, there are notable divergences between the projected behavior of mean and extreme wave conditions in certain ocean regions, indicating that caution should be exercised when extrapolating changes in mean wave conditions to extremes in these areas.