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Global warming may have contributed to the extreme weather which led to the fatal sinking<\/a> of a yacht off the Italian coast, the nation\u2019s meteorological society president believes. <\/p>\n British-flagged yacht the \u2018Bayesian\u2019 capsized and sunk off the coast of Sicily<\/a> on Monday. <\/p>\n One man has been confirmed dead while six others\u2014including the boat\u2019s owner, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch<\/a>\u2014are missing.<\/p>\n The boat had been carrying 22 people\u201415 of whom have now been rescued\u2014and reportedly tipped when high winds broke the mast of the yacht, tilting it towards the water, which led to the vessel\u2019s sinking.<\/p>\n Luca Mercalli, an Italian climatologist, believes the storm the Bayesian was caught in was caused by either a waterspout or a downburst. <\/p>\n A waterspout is a whirlwind of water and spray\u2014essentially a tornado\u2014over areas like the sea, while a downburst is an intense downward pressure of airflow which is often accompanied by thunderstorms or lashing rain. <\/p>\n Witnesses speaking to Italian news agency Ansa<\/a> recounted battling high winds in the moments before the Bayesian vanished below the waves. <\/p>\n Mercalli said it is not yet clear whether the violent storm<\/a> was caused by a waterspout or downburst, telling Reuters<\/a>: \u201cWe don\u2019t know which it was because it all happened in the dark in the early hours of the morning, so we have no photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n He added downbursts, in particular, may be connected to global warming, and he fears they will only get worse.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), which is almost 3 degrees more than normal,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we can\u2019t say that this is all due to climate change, but we can say that it has an amplifying effect.\u201d<\/p>\n The world\u2019s oceans have got significantly warmer since scientists began keeping records. <\/p>\n Scientists measure heat in joules but because the ocean is so large and heating so quickly, experts use zettajoules to calibrate their readings. <\/p>\n According to NASA<\/a> in 1959 the globe\u2019s seas were measured at six zettajoules. <\/p>\n By 2021 this had increased to 360 zettajoules, with 90% of the world\u2019s global warming happening at sea.<\/p>\n The data only shows the ocean continuing to heat further, so it\u2019s perhaps no surprise that Mercalli believes the Bayesian tragedy will not be the last.<\/p>\n \u201cClimate-driven catastrophes in Italy will become more frequent and more intense,\u201d\u00a0he added.<\/p>\n The group of 12 passengers and 10 crew were traveling the coast of Italy reportedly celebrating the recent acquittal<\/a> of the boat\u2019s owner, software millionaire Lynch. <\/p>\n Lynch had recently finished a criminal fraud case<\/a> in the U.S. over the sale of his firm, Autonomy, to Hewlett Packard. <\/p>\n Autonomy was sold for $11 billion in 2011, but that figure was reduced by $8.8 billion within the first year of HP\u2019s ownership.<\/p>\n Following the battle with the Silicon Valley giant, the man dubbed \u201cBritain\u2019s Bill Gates\u201d set sail with his wife\u2013Angela Bacares, who is reportedly among those rescued\u2014his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and his financial and legal advisors to celebrate the end of the case.<\/p>\n However, on Monday morning, the 184-foot sailboat reportedly sunk within minutes of capsizing after it was hit by the sudden and ferocious storm.<\/p>\n Lynch\u00a0<\/a>and his teenage daughter are among those missing<\/span>. <\/p>\n Rescue specialists are also searching for Morgan Stanley International bank chairman\u00a0Jonathan Bloomer and his\u00a0wife Judy,\u00a0as well as Clifford Chance lawyer\u00a0Chris Morvillo.<\/p>\n Speaking to <\/a>BBC<\/a>\u00a0Francesco Venuto, a spokesperson for Sicily\u2019s civil protection agency, on Monday rescue teams said that<\/span> some bodies \u201cmust\u201d still be in the boat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been searching all day with helicopters and boats, we\u2019ve found nothing. That wouldn\u2019t make sense, in this conditions we should have found something by now,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nThe Bayesian rescue effort<\/h2>\n
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