WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

DataStreme ECS WEEK 8: 26-30 October 2009

CURRENT CLIMATE STATUS

State and city weather extremes for September 2009 -- The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has posted a listing of some of the notable extremes in temperature, precipitation and other weather elements across the nation for the recently completed month of August in "Selected U.S. City and State Extremes for September 2009". Note that this site may be updated during the following several weeks as more data are received and analyzed.
Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Annual Arctic Report Card handed out -- NOAA's Climate Program Office recently released the 2009 annual update of the Arctic Report Card, a report of the state of the air, ocean and ice in the Arctic basin prepared by 71 national and international scientists. These experts have found that drastic changes in the region have occurred within the last five years, with 2009 having slightly more summer sea ice than during the two previous years. [NOAA News]
Precipitation patterns during El Niño and La Niña events -- Images were assembled too show the differences in the sea surface temperatures and the precipitation across the Pacific Ocean Basin and the Americas from their respective long-term averages during major El Niño and La Niña events (December 1997 and December 1998, respectively) from NOAA’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer and from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project's blended rainfall data collected by several satellites. El Niño and La Niña events are associated with anomalous large-scale atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Arctic plants, permafrost, carbon studied from space -- A researcher from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and colleagues have used hyperspectral satellite images taken in selected spectral wavelength intervals by an instrument on NASA's EO-1 satellite to determine the extent of arctic plants, permafrost thaw and the amount of carbon released along Alaska's Arctic Coast near Barrow. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Loss of West Antarctic ice sheet may be slower than thought -- Analysis of data collected by the West Antarctic GPS Network project has led researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, Ohio State University, and the University of Memphis suggest that the rate of ice loss from the West Antarctic ice sheet has not been as fast as previously thought. [EurekAlert!]
Potential Australian seabed response to climate change studied -- Scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation have conducted a five-year study designed to predict potential high-risk areas in the seabed surrounding Australia due climate change in addition to seabed movement, erosion and changes in reef growth. [EurekAlert!]
An All-Hazards Monitor--This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAAWatch]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

Higher global temperatures could cause more tree growth in Northwest -- Researchers at Oregon State University and the US Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station predict that forest productivity could increase in the forests along the Cascade Mountain Range in Washington State and Oregon based upon one climate scenario where global temperatures would rise because of current trends of energy use, globalization and economic growth. [Oregon State University]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Planetary seismic noise could improve hurricane time series reconstruction -- Seismologists from Northwestern and Clemson Universities used digital seismograms dating through the 20th century from monitoring stations in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico to improve the time series of North Atlantic hurricanes especially prior to the era of satellite surveillance. [Geological Society of America]
Arctic sediments reveal unprecedented changes in last century -- Analysis of sediments from the Arctic retrieved by University at Buffalo geologists and colleagues indicated that the changes recorded by these sediments during the last 50 years are unprecedented when compared with other previous warming episodes during the last 200,000 years. [University at Buffalo]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Health impacts associated with climate change -- The United Kingdom's Met Office recently published a book entitled "The Health Practitioner's Guide to Climate Change" that details climate changes and their potential effect upon the health care industry. Topics also include adaptation to climate change, anticipation of patient loads and investment in mitigation activities. [UK Met Office]
Pollutants may be released by melting glaciers -- A Swiss researcher and colleagues recently reported that their investigation of glacial fed lakes in the Swiss Alps indicates the increase in persistent organic pollutants in the sediments during the last two decades can be attributed to the release of these pollutants by glacial melting. [EurekAlert!]
Model developed to predict hurricane-related power outages -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Texas A&M Universities have developed a risk analysis computer model that accurately predicts power outages in a region in advance of an approaching hurricane. [EurekAlert!]
Website for human dimensions of climate change -- An interagency effort within the US federal government that included NOAA, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, has resulted in a website called HD.gov (for HumanDimensions.gov) that provides users, such as natural resource managers, with information on the human dimensions on a variety of topics of interest such as climate change. [HD.gov]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Seawater Salinity and Carbon Dioxide

The contemporary concern regarding global climate change has caused scientists to study the various factors that govern the ocean's ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, are on the rise primarily because of increased burning of fossil fuels. Higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be contributing to increased global temperatures, a condition often identified as global warming. The ocean's role in regulating the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide depends on the temperature, salinity, and biological components of surface waters.

Studies show that the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide is primarily temperature dependent. As noted in Chapter 8 of your textbook, gases are more soluble in cold seawater than warm seawater. Hence, changes in sea surface temperature affect the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide. We also found in Chapter 1, photosynthetic organisms assimilate carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Through cellular respiration, all organisms release carbon dioxide. Therefore, biological activity affects the ocean's ability to absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

What about the effects of changes in salinity on the ocean's uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Research from the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii provides some insight on this question. For nearly 20 years, scientists have been collecting physical, chemical and biological data through a large column of ocean water at Station ALOHA, a sampling site about 100 km (62 mi) north of Oahu that appears representative of oceanic conditions in the central North Pacific. In 2003, David M. Karl, a biogeochemist at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, reported a decline in the rate at which surface ocean waters were absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In 2001, the rate of carbon dioxide uptake was only about 15% of the rate in 1989. Why the change in carbon dioxide uptake? In this region of the Pacific north of Hawaii, sea surface temperatures showed no significant change during the period of observation but precipitation decreased and evaporation increased. Less precipitation associated with drought coupled with higher rates of evaporation caused the surface water salinity at ALOHA to increase by about 1%. Increasing salinity inhibits water's ability to absorb gases including carbon dioxide. Karl and his colleagues attribute 40% of the decline in the ocean's carbon dioxide uptake to the saltier waters. The balance of the decline may be due to changes in biological productivity or ocean mixing.

Projected changes in global climate indicate significant changes in precipitation around the globe including reduced precipitation over various large areas of the oceans, resulting in potential "drought" conditions. Since changes in oceanic salinity result from changes in precipitation, the contribution that salinity plays on future assimilation of atmospheric carbon dioxide by the ocean also becomes an important consideration.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Place your responses on the Chapter Progress Response Form provided in the Study Guide.

With rising sea surface temperatures, the rate of evaporation of seawater [(increases), (decreases)].
With increasing salinity and constant temperature, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide that is taken up by ocean water [(increases), (decreases)].

Historical Events:

26 October 1859...New York City had their earliest substantial snow of record as four inches blanketed the city. (David Ludlum)
26 October 1919...The temperature at Bismarck, ND plunged to ten degrees below zero, the earliest subzero reading of record for the city, and a record for the month of October. (The Weather Channel)
26 October 1926...Barrow, AK received a record fifteen inches of snow, and also established a 24 hour precipitation record of 1.00 inch which lasted until the 21st of July in 1987. (The Weather Channel)
26 October 1993...The temperature at Eureka, CA soared to 87 degrees to set an all-time high temperature record for the city. (Intellicast)
27 October 1929...A snowstorm dumped 27 inches upon Ishpeming, MI in 24 hours to establish a state record. (David Ludlum)
28 October 1936...The temperature at Layton, NJ dipped to 9 degrees above zero to establish a state record for the month of October. (The Weather Channel)
28 October 1991...Yakima, WA recorded 2.4 inches of snow, equaling the record for October. (Intellicast)
29 October 1917...The temperature at Soda Butte, WY the mercury plunged to 33 degrees below zero, an U.S. record for the month of October. (David Ludlum)
29 October 1991...Bismarck, ND received 15.9 inches of snow on the 28^th and 29^th. This brought the October snowfall total to 23.5 inches, a new record. (Intellicast)
30 October 1925...Nashville, TN was blanketed with an inch of snow, their earliest measurable snow of record. (The Weather Channel)
31 October 1987...Yakima, WA reported measurable rainfall for the first time since 18 July. The 103-day long dry spell was their longest of record. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
31 October 1991...A severe winter storm dubbed the "Great Halloween Mega Storm" struck the upper Midwest. Minnesota bore the brunt of the storm. By the time the storm finally ended on 2 November, Duluth received 37 inches of snow and Minneapolis 28 inches, which were new all time records for single storm totals. These two cities received nearly half their normal seasonal snows in this one storm. In Wisconsin, 35 inches of snow was reported at Superior and 30 inches at Iron River. (Intellicast)
31 October 1993...Corpus Christi, TX dropped to 28 degrees to set the October (and November) record. Brownsville dropped to a monthly record 35 degrees. (Intellicast)

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