Hurricane danger in Mediterranean

THE Mediterranean could start generating its own hurricanes if sea temperatures keep rising, scientists have warned.

Hurricanes form far out in the tropical Atlantic. Few reach land and hardly any reach Europe, but recently hurricanes have been forming where they were never seen before.

A new study shows climate change means the Mediterranean is warming so much it stores enough heat to trigger the formation of its own hurricanes, with important implications for resorts, residents and holidaymakers. "We have detected for the first time a risk of tropical cyclone development over the Mediterranean based on anthropogenic (man-made) climate change," said Miguel Gaertner, lead researcher at the environmental sciences faculty of the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo, Spain.

This change would have serious implications for tourism, raising the prospect that hotels, campsites and resorts would need to develop hurricane shelters, evacuation plans and other protective measures similar to those on the US Gulf coast.

In 2004, Cyclone Catarina became one of the few to form in the South Atlantic, hitting the coast of Brazil. Then in 2005 Hurricane Vince formed around Madeira in Portugal, an area that had never before produced such storms. It even struck Spain - another first.

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