Odds Up! Satellite survey washes away wave theory

[TacticalPeek]

Last Update: Sunday, July 25, 2004. 1:30pm (AEST)


Satellite survey washes away wave theory

It appears that massive ship-sinking ocean waves - as high as 10-storey buildings - are far more common than scientists previously thought.

Oceanographers' conventional wisdom was that waves over 25 metres only occurred once every 10,000 years.

However, the European Space Agency says satellite data it collected over only three weeks in 2001 found more than 10 individual waves around the globe that swelled to more than 25 metres in height.

The news is significant because current ships and off-shore platforms are only built to withstand maximum wave heights of 15 metres.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1161295.htm