A waterspout just sank a yacht in the Mediterranean. We might be seeing more of them.

A superyacht carrying 22 people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, sank off the coast of Palermo, Italy, in the early hours of August 19. The 183-foot Bayesian yacht is believed to have been hit by a waterspout—a tornado that forms over the ocean—and some experts are concerned that climate change could worsen these storms in the Mediterranean and other quickly warming waters. Here’s what you need to know about waterspouts and whether hotter temperatures could cause more of them. A waterspout is a tornado that forms over water. “The...