Extreme ocean winds and wave heights have been increasing around the world over the past 30 years, particularly in the Southern Ocean, a new study says.

Researchers Ian Young and Agustinus Ribal of the University of Melbourne's Department of Infrastructure Engineering used 31 different satellites to analyze wind speed and wave height measurements from 1985 to 2018, which amounted to about 4 billion observations, according to a press release.

They then compared the measurements with data from more than 80 buoys worldwide and found that extreme winds in the Southern Ocean increased by 8 percent, or 1.5 meters per second, since 1985, while extreme waves increased by 11.8 inches, or 5 percent, according to the study published this week in the journal Science.

Young noted that conditions in the Southern Ocean have a direct ripple effect on those in the South Pacific, South Atlantic and Indian Ocean.

Young noted that as storms become more frequent as a result of global warming, increasing winds and wave heights will have a growing effect on rising sea levels and infrastructure.

“Although increases of 5 and 8 percent might not seem like much, if sustained into the future such changes to our climate will have major impacts,” Young said. “Increases in wave height and changes in other properties such as wave direction, will further increase the probability of coastal flooding.”

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Young and Ribal's work will help an international team of researchers who are currently working to develop next-generation global climate models that will project winds and waves over the next century.