The hostility of offshore environments--How much more?

The upper limit of environmental elements is questioned by reports of increasing extremes of winds, waves, storm tides and currents in old and new areas of offshore development. During stormy seasons in hostile areas like the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the North Atlantic, extreme values of such parameters have been underestimated. Semi-permanent offshore operations in these areas indicate extreme conditions increase with exposure time. Is the increase of extremes related to changing climate or to avail ability of more data? If we cannot separate the causes of underestimates, we can update the empirical data, discuss their implications and present these for consideration. The ultimate maxima are theoretically computed and considered. Climatic changes contributing to storm intensity at world locations are presented and their implications discussed.