WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DataStreme WES Week Twelve: 27 November-1 December 2006

Water in the News:

(Thurs.) Supertyphoon Durian slams Philippines -- The fourth strong typhoon in four months has struck the Philippine Islands cutting off power to thousands and stranding travelers. Durian was packing winds to 119 mph with gust to 140 mph. [USA Today]
(Thurs.) Historic Egyptian famine linked to an Icelandic volcano -- Scientists from Rutgers University and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland claim that the results from a computer model developed at the Goddard Institute of Space Studies indicate that aerosols injected into the upper atmosphere by the 1783 eruption of the Laki volcano in southern Iceland were responsible for a famine in Egypt that resulted in a 17 % reduction of the population of the Nile Valley. In addition to affecting the precipitation pattern over northern Africa, the aerosols from the Laki volcano, one of the largest high-latitude eruptions during the last millennium, appear to have weakened the Indian monsoon regime. The aerosol loading also contributed to lowering the summer 1783 temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere to the lowest in over 500 years in some locations. [NASA GSFC]
(Thurs.) A space-age view of coastal North Carolina -- A photograph of North Carolina's Currituck Sound and the Outer Banks made by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station shows the network of waterways and the barrier islands, along with the effects of human activity in this sensitive coastal environment. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Thurs.) A mangrove forest seen from space -- An image obtained from NASA's Landsat 7 satellite shows the thick vegetation in the large Matang Mangrove Forest on the Malaysia Peninsula, surrounded by areas that have been cleared for agriculture and settlement. These mangrove forests that contain trees adapted to grow in a salty coastal environment can serve as a buffer against coastal erosion from strong storm systems and can be a nursery for marine life. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) Greenland ice and snow shows signs of retreating -- Several images made from the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite of a glacier in southeastern Greenland over a six year span indicate shrinkage of the glacier. These images confirm the results of a study made early this fall by NASA' s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites that indicate loss of ice from the periphery of the ice, despite gains to the interior ice sheet. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) Downward trend in Arctic sea ice is noted -- A new analysis of satellite data made by experts at the U.S. National Ice Center indicates a steady decline in the extent of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean during the last 33 years. These data derived from a 1972 - 2004 chart series have become available in a new climatology data set, "New 30-Year Arctic Sea Ice Climatology" available to the research community. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Unsettled weather across the Caribbean -- An image from NOAA's GOES 12 satellite shows clouds from showers and thunderstorms that produced torrential rain across Caribbean and Panama. The rain caused flooding that resulted in several deaths. [NOAA OSEI]
(Tues.) Chesapeake Bay is reported to remain in poor health -- The Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently gave the nation's largest estuary failing grades for pollution, dissolved oxygen, water quality and underwater grasses important to help filter the water. However, the foundation found that the number of oysters increased over the previous year. [US Water News Online]
Eye on the tropics --
- In the South Pacific Ocean basin, Tropical Cyclone Yani developed to the southeast of the Solomon Islands last week and moved toward the south, reaching an intensity of a Category 1 system on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale. By the end of the week, this tropical cyclone had weakened to a tropical depression. An image obtained from the MODIS instrument onboard NASA's Terra satellite shows Tropical Cyclone Yani to the southeast of the Solomon Islands. [NOAA OSEI]
- In the western North Pacific, Tropical Storm Durian formed late last week approximately 1500 miles east of the Philippines. As of early Sunday, this tropical storm was continuing to move toward the west-northwest as it underwent slow intensification.
Record rain in the Pacific Northwest -- A series of storms along with a persistent onshore flow of humid air from off the eastern North Pacific during November has resulted in record precipitation at some coastal locations across western Washington State and Oregon. With more than one week remaining in the month, Seattle and Olympia had set all-time monthly precipitation records. The record rain caused flooding, such as at Mt. Rainer National Park. [Office of the Washington State Climatologist] Earlier in the month, a station in northwest Oregon received 14.3 inches of rain in 24 hours, which would exceed the previous 24-hour precipitation record for the state of Oregon. [Oregon Climate Service]
Florida Peninsula get some rare snowflakes -- Residents of central Florida near Orlando reported some light snow that fell early last week as a cold air mass moved southward across the Sunshine State. Significant snow does not fall across this region and the occasional snow usually does not fall in November. [WFTV News/Weather]
Deadly Afghan floods seen from space -- Heavy rain fell across the desert of western Afghanistan the week before last, resulting in flash flooding and the deaths of as many as fifty people. Inclement weather at the beginning of last week hampered flood relief efforts. Several images obtained from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite show the effects of the flooding. [NASA Earth Observatory] [NOAA OSEI]
The 2006 hurricane seasons reviewed -- Although tropical storms and hurricanes could continue to form, the official 2006 hurricane season in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific will end this upcoming Thursday, 30 November 2006. [AMS DataStreme Atmosphere]
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: Change in the Earth System

In 1881, Henri Louis Le Chátelier (1850-1936) formulated a general law of chemistry: "If a system at equilibrium is subjected to a stress, the equilibrium will shift in an attempt to reduce the stress." This reasoning provides insight into the behavior of systems. The interaction of subsystems within the Earth system involves the transfer of mass and energy. A stress or disturbance of a subsystem will thus affect the other subsystems to varying degrees.

The final week of the course is an appropriate occasion for us to revisit and reflect on the paradigm that guided our investigation of water in the Earth system and to consider how this system will react to stresses resulting from both natural and human disturbances.

The global water cycle encompasses the flow of water, energy, and water-borne materials, as well as their interactions with organisms in the Earth system. Water's unique combination of physical and chemical properties, its co-existence as vapor, liquid, and solid within the temperature and pressure ranges found on Earth, and its role as an essential ingredient of life, places it center stage in the interactive functioning of the planet's sub-systems. As the principal atmospheric greenhouse gas, water vapor brings temperatures into the range required for life on Earth. Powered by the sun, the water cycle couples the living and non-living components of Earth into an evolving system. Human activity is an integral and inseparable part of the water cycle, impacting and impacted by both the quantity and quality of water.

The burning of fossil fuels appears to be a major contributor to the increased amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Le Chátelier would describe this anthropogenic increase as a stress on the system. By altering the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, human activity may be modifying climate on a global scale. The Earth system and its various interdependent subsystems may respond to this disturbance by shifting to a new climate state. The interdependency of Earth's various subsystems and biogeochemical cycles implies that such a shift will have implications for the distribution of water within the global water cycle and for fresh water resources (e.g., changes in glacial ice cover, sea level, drought frequency).

Concept of the Week: Questions

After completing DataStreme WES, I now understand the global water cycle as a flow of [(mass) (energy) (both mass and energy)].
After completing DataStreme WES, I now understand that human activity [(may) (may not)] impact the Earth system with implications for the water cycle and water resources.

Historical Events:

27-28 November 1905...Heavy snow and wind blasted the western Great Lakes with as much as seven inches of snow in northwestern Wisconsin and sustained winds of 42 mph recorded at Duluth, MN for 29 straight hours and 65 mph winds for 13 continuous hours. Severe drifting resulted. Eighteen ships were destroyed or disabled on Lake Superior. The ship Mataafa was grounded and broke in two in Duluth harbor. Nine of the fifteen crew of the Mataafa froze to death despite running aground within 100 yards of the shore. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
27-28 November 1912...Snowfall is a rare event for Florida. The record earliest snowfall for Florida, and the only November snowfall fell during the night across part of the interior counties in the far northwest (Madison to Gadsden) bordering Georgia. Up to 0.5 inches of snow was reported at Mt. Pleasant. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
27 November 1930...A terrific sandstorm in Morocco supplied the dust for the "mud rain" on the following day that fell from northern France to southern England. In Belgium a number of people were asphyxiated near Liege due to poor air quality. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
28 November 1921...New England was in the midst of a four day icestorm, their worst of record. Ice was more than three inches thick in many places following the storm, and property damage was in the millions of dollars. Northern New England received heavy snow with more than two feet reported in some areas. Overnight freezing rains continued through the day at Worcester, MA while the wind increased to a gale. Streets become impassable even on foot, and whole towns were plunged into darkness without communication. The storm caused $20 million damage to power lines, telephone lines and trees. (David Ludlum)
28 November 1960...A severe storm produced waves 20 to 40 feet high on Lake Superior. Duluth, MN was buried under a foot of snow, and clocked wind gusts to 73 mph. The northern shore of Lake Superior was flooded, and property along the shore was battered. Thousands of cords of pulpwood were washed into Lake Superior, and up to three feet of water flooded the main street of Grand Marais. Thunder accompanied the "nor'easter". (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
28-29 November 1995...Rivers in western Washington State experienced near-record flooding. In Snohomish County, 2000 students could not reach school because of flooded roads. In Duvall and Carnation, flooded roads stranded 15,000 people. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
2 December 1959...Malpasset Dam collapsed destroying the French Riviera town of Fréjus, killing 412 people. (Infoplease.com)
2 December 1972...The largest sinkhole in the US, "December Giant," formed in Alabama.
3-10 December 1926...Record rain fell on Yuma, AZ over a one week period. On the 4^th 1.10 inches of rain fell, and by the 10^th a total of 4.43 inches had fallen, to set an all-time December monthly record. The mean annual precipitation for Yuma is only 3.38 inches. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
3 December 1952...A remarkable display of sea smoke was seen in Hong Kong harbor. The sea-smoke, induced by a strong surge of arctic air, poured from the water of Kowloon Bay from 8 AM to 9:30 AM. The air temperature near the sea wall was 44 degrees. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
3 December 1982...Big Fork, AR received 14.06 inches of rain, setting a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the state. (NCDC)