The Future Northeast Atlantic Wave Energy Potential under Climate Change

The Twenty-seventh (2017) International Ocean and Polar Engineering Conference, San Francisco, California, 25-30 JuneThe potential changes to the wave energy flux and wave directionality of the Northeast Atlantic region towards the end of the 21st century are examined using a two-grid WAVEWATCH III model ensemble, driven by the EC-Earth global climate model under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. A decrease in the wave energy flux across all seasons and a change in the directionality (mean and peak wave direction) was found, with both clockwise and anticlockwise rotations of up to 10° in some regions of the Northeast Atlantic by the end of the century.Science Foundation Irelan