DATASTREME WES WEEK EIGHT: 22-26 March 2004

• World Water and Meteorology Days are set -- The United Nations Environment Programme has identified that Monday ( 22 March 2004) is World Water Day 2004. The theme of this year's World Water Day is "Water and Disasters". [UNEP] The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), an agency within the United Nations, has proclaimed Tuesday (23 March) as World Meteorological Day for 2004. This year's theme is "Weather, Climate and Water in the Information Age". [WMO]

• An ocean - Dust Bowl connection -- Employing satellite data and a computer model, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have studied the climate over the last century and found that lower than normal surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean along with above average Atlantic Ocean surface temperature appear to create drought conditions across the nation's midsection, which ultimately led to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. [NASA] [Editor's note: The results of this research are similar to research made by scientists from the Midwestern Regional Climate Center and the US Geological Survey noted in last week's Water News. EJH]

• Unseasonably warm weather diminishes Sierra snowpack -- The recent warm spell across the West has reduced the above average snowpack in the Sierras. Unfortunately, the weather pattern that has produced the warmth is also responsible for dry conditions. [USA Today]
• Cyanide poisons a Romanian river -- Officials with Romania's Environment Ministry announced last week that as much as 10 tons of toxic wastes containing cyanide spilled into a tributary of the Danube River in the northeastern section of the country. This spill could pose health hazards and kill fish. [ENN]
• Patagonian ice dam breaks-- A natural dam of ice broke from the Perito Moreno glacier in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Argentina, releasing water that had been trapped in the southern arm of Lago Argentino. The Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Innsbruck has been conducting a long-term study of this glacier, utilizing information provided by instruments onboard the European Space Agency's orbiting satellites. [ESA News]
• Glacial records suggest globally synchronous ice ages -- Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have used a technique that involved studying the effect of cosmic rays on glacial deposits from a high altitude desert in South America to demonstrate that recent ice ages have been synchronous in both northern and southern hemispheres. [EurekAlert!]
• Ocean acidity changes serve as a proxy in study of ancient planetary climate -- An international team of scientists recently reported that based upon their incorporation of changes in the acidity of the ocean in their models, changes in carbon dioxide rather than those associated with cosmic ray intensity appear to have been a major factor in controlling global temperatures over the last 570 million years. The acidity of the ocean depends in part upon the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. [EurekAlert!]
• An update on the EPA Superfund -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week reported that cleanup work at Love Canal, a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, NY, has progressed sufficiently that it could be removed from the EPA Superfund list. Discovery of contaminated groundwater from a nearby chemical dump in Love Canal initiated the development of the EPA Superfund program for cleaning up the nation's worst toxic waste contamination. [ENN] The EPA also has recently proposed adding eleven sites in nine states to its Superfund list. [US Water News Online]
• Water wars continue despite easing of drought -- An assistant secretary for water in the US Department of Interior recently told a Senate committee that ever increasing demands for water across the West will cause continued conflict between various groups even if the multi-year drought continues to ease during the upcoming months. [US Water News Online]
• NOAA assessments as spring arrives -- With the occurrence of the spring equinox early Saturday, NOAA officials took time to issue press releases assessing the recently concluded winter season and providing outlooks for the rest of spring:
• Winter roundup -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reported that the nation experienced near average temperatures and precipitation for the winter season (December, January and February). Winter precipitation has helped reduce the moderate-to-extreme drought conditions that affected approximately 80 percent of the West last October to 50 percent by the end of February. [NOAA News]
• Spring forecast -- NOAA scientists released their official US spring outlook last Friday that indicates continued drought conditions with minor improvements are expected to remain across the West, as well as reduced risk of spring flooding due to snowmelt across the Midwest. [NOAA News]
• 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 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 grazing 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 a 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 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

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

• 24 March 1888...Snowflakes measuring 3.75 in. in diameter and 0.25 in. thick reportedly fell "like plates" on Chepstow, England. The flakes fell for approximately 2 minutes and covered the ground to a depth of 2 in. The liquid content of 0.33 in. would give a liquid accumulation rate of 9.90 in. per hour. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 March 1989...The tanker Exxon Valdez grounded on a reef in Prince William Sound, AK, spilling 10.1 million gallons of crude oil, resulting in the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Coast Guard units responded and prevented the entire cargo from spilling, cleaned up the oil which did spill, and conducted an investigation into the causes of the accident. The spill provided the impetus for the passage of the Oil Protection Act in 1990. (US Coast Guard Historians Office)
• 25 March 1961...The fifth major snowstorm of the month prompted the provincial government of Prince Edward Island to declare a state of emergency. Snowdrifts of at least 33 feet reached overhead power lines. (The Weather Doctor)
• 25 March 2000...A rouge wave near Shelter Cove, CA swept a lady from a Canadian school group into the ocean. Four members of the group tried to rescue her, but ere overcome by the waves and currents. A fishing vessel and the US Coast Guard rescued two of the rescuers. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 26 March 1913...The Ohio River Basin flood reached a peak. Ten-inch rains over a wide area of the Ohio River Basin inundated cities in Ohio, drowning 467 persons, and causing $47 million in damage. The Miami River at Dayton reached a level 8 feet higher than ever before. The flood, caused by warm weather and heavy rains, was the second mostly deadly on record for the nation. (David Ludlum)
• 26 March 1997...Mudslide wiped out 164 feet of Canadian National rails in Fraser Canyon, British Columbia causing an eastbound freight train to plunge from the tracks. Two crewmen died and fears of chemical spill abound. (The Weather Doctor)
• 27 March 1980...Waves to 20 ft and winds to 58 mph in the North Sea southwest of Stavanger, Norway led to the collapse of an oil rig accommodation platform. The deaths of 123 of the 212 people on the platform represents the world's worst drilling catastrophe. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 28 March 1902...McMinnville, TN (elevation 900 feet) received 11.00 inches of precipitation, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Volunteer State. (National Climate Data Center).
• 28 March 1964...A tsunami generated by an earthquake (which rated 9.2 on the Richter scale) in Prince William Sound, AK produced a major surge wave that was approximately 100 ft above low tide and caused major damage to Whittier (where 13 died) and other coastal communities in Alaska. The death toll from the earthquake and associated tsunami waves was at least 122, with 108 in Alaska. The earthquake and tsunami caused $311 million in property damage. The first wave took more than 5 hours to reach the Hawaiian Islands where a 10-foot wave was detected, while a wave that was 14.8 feet above high tide level traveled along portions of the West Coast, reaching northern California 4 hours after the earthquake. Nearly 10,000 people jammed beaches at San Francisco to view the possible tsunami, but no high-amplitude waves hit those beaches. (The University of Washington) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (US Coast Guard Historians Office)
• 28 March 1980...Although springtime was starting in the Rocky Mountains, the snow just kept on coming! One foot or more of snow fell over portions of eastern Colorado, southwest Nebraska, northwest Kansas and southeastern Wyoming. Winds reached 40 mph and Valentine, NE received 13 in. of snow. North Platte, NE checked in with 15 in. (Intellicast)
• 28 March 1998...Three Boy Scout troop members died when their sport utility vehicle was swept away as they tried to cross a running wash just north of Sunflower, AZ. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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Prepared by AMS WES Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2004, The American Meteorological Society.