WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DataStreme WES Week Eight: 23-27 October 2006

Water in the News:

(Thurs.) Portugal battered by floods -- One woman drowned and a school bus was washed off the road as heavy rains caused rivers to flood north of Lisbon. [USA Today]
(Thurs.) Warming a suspect in impending reef death -- Scientists meeting in the US Virgin Islands predict that more than half of the coral reefs in the world will be dead in 25 years, due in large part to global warming. Up to 30% have died in the last 50 years and more are under stress. [CNN]
(Thurs.) A warmer and wetter planet foreseen -- Following their analysis of the results of simulations using several advanced numerical climate models made for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Texas Tech University and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre have concluded that the planet could face an increased risk of heat waves, more intense precipitation events and other climatic extremes, including drought, during the next century. [UCAR/NCAR]
(Thurs.) Getting water for the thirsty Front Range -- An entrepreneur from Ft. Collins, CO has proposed that a 400-mile pipeline that could cost $4 billion should be built across the Rockies in order to tap water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir on the Green River in southwest Wyoming and northeast Utah so as to satisfy the increasing demands for water by residents living along the Front Range in Colorado. [US Water News Online]
(Thurs.) Las Vegas searching for more water -- A water agency official has warned that Las Vegas, NV could run out of usable water unless plans are approved that would permit pumping ground water from the sparsely populated areas of eastern Nevada. [USA Today]
(Thurs.) Novel ways to reduce Western appetite for water -- Numerous municipalities across the drought-plagued Southwest are attempting to conserve water by mandating no-watering rules and encouraging less water demanding landscapes, including fake grass in cemeteries. [ENN]
(Thurs.) Environmental protection officials are fired over toxic spill -- The official Chinese news agency reported that two environmental officials in central China were fired due to their failure to adequately monitor companies that resulted in a toxic chemical spill last month which forced the cutting of water supplies to 80,000 people. [US Water News Online]
(Tues.) Monitoring recent rainfall from satellites -- Severe thunderstorms that spawned tornadoes also were responsible for torrential rain as they moved across the South during the last two weeks. Images made by the near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis show the rainfall totals for the 10-17 October 2006 interval, based in part from data obtained from the TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) US experiences a cool and damp September -- Scientists at the National Climatic Data Center reported that the nationwide average temperature for the recently concluded September 2006 was 0.7 Fahrenheit degrees below average, the first month with below average temperatures since May 2005. Half of the states (25 had below average temperatures) while only six had above average temperatures. However, the first nine months of the year was the warmest on record across the country. September precipitation across the nation was above average. Kentucky had a record tying precipitation total with 8.02 inches. Approximately one-third of the country experienced moderate to exceptional drought at the end of September, a decrease in areal coverage since August 2006. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) New information on the Martian water story -- Scientists who have been studying information obtained from sensors onboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express mission report that while upper layers of the Martian soil contain water ice, a warm and wet period may have lasted on Mars for only several hundred million years early in the planet's history. [ESA]
(Tues.) Hopes for a lunar ice supply melt -- Researchers with high resolution radar imagery from a large radio telescope, along with those who calculated lunar surface temperatures, have concluded that the area around the south pole of the moon could not support significant amounts of ice, dashing hopes of water supply for a lunar base. [New Scientist]
(Tues.) Flood risk does not faze rebuilding efforts -- A majority of homeowners in New Orleans, LA say that they plan to apply rebuild their homes following damage from Hurricane Katrina despite city restrictions that have been put into place designed to reduce the damage caused by flooding. [USA Today]
(Tues.) New radar technique used to study Antarctic ice shelf -- The scientists with the British Antarctic Survey have developed a new technique that involves phase-sensitive radar to study the internal structure of a large section of the Antarctic ice shelf, which should help them determine how the ice sheet is responding to changes in climate. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Intelligent sensors are used for flood monitoring -- Researchers at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom are testing a flood monitoring system that uses information involving river flow rates obtained from sophisticated sensors placed in flood-prone regions as input to flood forecasting models. [EurekAlert!]
Eye on the tropics -- In the eastern Pacific Tropical Depression 17-E developed in the predawn hours of Saturday morning offshore of the Mexican coast. Later in the morning, it had intensified to become Tropical Storm Paul, the sixteenth named tropical cyclone of the 2006 hurricane season in that basin. By Sunday, Tropical Storm Paul had intensified as it continued to move toward the west.
Greenland Ice sheet continues to loose mass -- Scientists at the have used data collected by sensors onboard by NASA’s GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites to determine that while some regions on the Greenland ice cap have shown increased accumulation, the island has been rapidly loosing mass near the coasts through melting and iceberg calving during the last several years. [NASA Earth Observatory] Additional images are available. [NASA Life on Earth]
Deadly floods hit Greece -- Storms moving across the eastern Mediterranean basin last week produced flooding and mudslides that left three dead in southeastern Greece, where a state of emergency was declared on three islands. [USA Today]
Winter Outlook and El Niño watch updated -- Forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center released their latest winter outlook covering the three-month winter season (December 2006-February 2007) that indicates that much of the nation should experience a better than even chance that this winter will be warmer than the 30 year "normals" (based on the 1971-2000 interval), but slightly cooler than last year's winter season. Only the Southeast could experience a slightly above chance for near average temperatures, while the Hawaiian Islands could experience a good chance of below average temperature readings. The Southwest and the Southeast could have a better than even chance of wetter than normal winter weather, while the northern Rockies and the Ohio Valley could have drier than average conditions. These outlooks are predicated on a strengthening El Niño event that continues. Researchers indicate that above average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific along with other indicators have resulted in a weak El Niño that could continue for the next several months, but not gaining the strength of the major 1997-1998 El Niño event. [NOAA News]
Water table in Maine shaken by earthquake -- Hydrologists with the US Geological Survey report that a recent magnitude 3.9 earthquake near Bar Harbor along the Maine coast has caused a drop in the water level in the agency's monitoring wells, thereby suggesting a fall in the water table due to the earthquake. [US Water News Online]
Bacterium from vanishing lake could be valuable -- A team of researchers at Montana State University claim that a type of bacterium that was discovered in the salt flats of a slowly vanishing meromictic lake (one that becomes stratified due to incomplete mixing) in Washington State could be used in the future to clean industrial wastewater. [Montana State University]
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]
Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem

Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest estuarine ecosystem; it is more than 300 km (185 mi) long, 65 km (40 mi) at its broadest, and averages about 20 m (66 ft) deep. The estuary was formed by the post-glacial rise in sea level that flooded the valley of the ancient Susquehanna River. The Bay receives about half its water input from the Atlantic Ocean and the other half from the more than 150 rivers and streams draining a 166,000 square kilometer land area encompassing parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Major rivers emptying into Chesapeake Bay include the Potomac, Susquehanna, York, and James.

An estuary is a complex and highly productive ecosystem formed where seawater and fresh runoff meet. In Chesapeake Bay, more-dense seawater creeps northward along the bottom of the estuary, moving under the less-dense fresh water flowing in the opposite direction. This circulation combined with wind-driven water motions causes salinity to decrease upstream in the Bay, from values typical of seawater at its mouth to freshwater values at its northern margin.

As in all ecosystems, organisms living in estuaries depend on one another and their physical environment for food energy and habitat. This interdependency is evident in food chains, pathways along which energy flows and materials cycle. Phytoplankton and submerged aquatic vegetation (e.g., marsh grass) are the primary producers in estuarine food webs. (Producers acquire energy from solar radiation through photosynthesis and are at the bottom of food chains.) Consumers in food webs are organisms that derive their energy by eating producers or other consumers. Chesapeake Bay consumers include zooplankton, finfish, shellfish, birds, and humans. Through cellular respiration, producers and consumers convert energy to a form that the organism can use for growth and reproduction.

Human activity has greatly modified Chesapeake Bay with consequences for the functioning of its ecosystem. Much of the original forests that covered its drainage basin were converted to farmland, roads, cities, and suburban developments. These modifications accelerated the influx of nutrients (i.e., compounds of phosphorous and nitrogen), sediment, pesticides, and other pollutants. More nutrients spur growth of algal populations and when these organisms die (in mid-summer), their remains sink to the bottom. Decomposition of their remains reduces dissolved oxygen levels in the Chesapeake's bottom water. More sediment makes the water cloudy, reducing sunlight penetration for photosynthesis.

One casualty of human modification of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem was marsh grass--reduced by 90% from historical levels. Marsh grass anchors sediment and dampens wave action thereby controlling erosion and turbidity. Marsh grass is a food source for many organisms including waterfowl and small mammals and serves as primary nursery ground for crabs and many species of fish. Reduction of this habitat along with over-fishing has been implicated in the decline of populations of blue crabs, a mainstay of the Bay fishery for more than a century. Over the past decade, the number of adult female crabs has plunged by about 80%. Without adequate protection by marsh grass, the blue crab is more vulnerable to predation by striped bass (i.e., rockfish). Striped bass turned to blue crabs as a food source when fishing reduced the numbers of menhaden, their preferred food. Menhaden is a marine fish in the herring family and the Bay's top fishery by weight.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Within the waters of Chesapeake Bay, salinity [(is relatively uniform)(varies greatly)].
Marsh grass is a [(producer)(consumer)] in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Historical Events:

23-24 October 1918...The Canadian steamship Princess Sophia carrying miners from the Yukon and Alaska became stranded on Vanderbilt Reef along coastal British Columbia:. A strong northerly gale hampered rescue attempts, and the next day, the ship sank with the loss of the 268 passengers and 75 crewmen onboard. (The Weather Doctor)
24 October 1785...A four-day rain swelled the Merrimack River in New Hampshire and Massachusetts to the greatest height of record causing extensive damage to bridges and mills. (David Ludlum)
24 October 1933...A "high fog" settled over London, England causing "midnight at mid-day" as a temperature inversion forms over the city, trapping fog and smoke beneath it. The sun turned yellow, red and sometimes disappeared. (The Weather Doctor)
25 October 1859...The Royal Charter Storm, named after the loss of the fully rigged ship Royal Charter off the coast of Anglesey, England, drowned about 500 people, along with the loss of gold bullion. The ship was one of over 200 vessels wrecked between 21 October and 2 November, with the loss of around 800 lives, and led to the introduction of gale warnings in June 1860. (The Weather Doctor)
25-26 October 1980...The combination of unusually high tides and southeasterly winds gusting to 75 mph generated waves with heights to 25 ft, resulting in serious flooding, beach erosion and sea wall damage along the Maine coast. Wind damage was considerable and as many as 100,000 homes were without power for up to 40 hrs. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
26 October 1998...Hurricane Mitch, a category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) for 33 hours, finally dissipated after becoming the strongest October hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin. Estimated rainfall totals of up to 75 inches caused devastating flooding and mudslides in Honduras and Nicaragua for days. Estimated death toll from this hurricane was more than 11,000, the greatest loss of life from a tropical cyclone since 1780. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
28 October 1982...A severe thunderstorm produced softball-sized hail and nearly 4 hrs of flooding rains at Al-Khafqi, Saudi Arabia. Eleven people were killed, along with the destruction of vehicles and buildings. (The Weather Doctor)
28 October 1991...Typhoon Thelma devastated the Philippines. Reports indicated that 6000 people died by catastrophic events related to the storm including dam failure, landslides, and extensive flash flooding. The greatest number of casualties occurred on Leyte Island where an 8-ft storm surge struck Ormoc, accounting for over 3000 fatalities. (The Weather Doctor)
29 October 1999...Tropical Cyclone 5B, with sustained winds of 155 mph, made landfall at Paradwip (Orissa, India). A storm surge of at least 20-ft height swept at least 12 mi inland. More than 10,000 people were killed. With 2 million homes either damaged or destroyed, 35 million people were left homeless. Damage from this tropical cyclone was $1.5 billion. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)

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