DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK THREE: 9-13 February 2004

• Cockle picking turns deadly from ocean waves-- At least 18 people were killed when rapidly rising tides trapped them as they collected cockles along the tidal flats of Morecambe Bay in northwest England. These victims may have been illegal immigrants from China. [CNN] In a related article, British police were conducting a hunt for the work-gang operators who appear to be involved with having the workers out on the tidal flats. [CNN]
• Airborne lidar used to study damage from Isabel -- NASA and USGS scientists have mapped the North Carolina coastline before and after the landfall of Hurricane Isabel last September using the Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar (EAARL) system mounted on a low flying aircraft. This system, which contains a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument, has been used to study the new inlet made on Hatteras Island by Isabel. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• An icy Iceland portrait from space -- NASA recently released a high resolution image of Iceland made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Aqua satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Ocean-bound pollutants hidden by clouds -- Scientists at NASA's Langley Research Center have analyzed the data obtained from the Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) field experiment and estimated that approximately two-thirds of the pollutants flowing into the North Pacific Ocean from Asian countries along the Pacific Rim occur under cloudy skies. Therefore, they conclude that satellite-based pollution data may be underestimates. [EurekAlert!]
• Tidal information by cell phone -- An agreement was recently announced that NOAA and a wireless development firm will provide tidal information, to include tide predictions, over cellular phones in an effort to provide important up-to-date information to those venturing out to sea with their phones. [NOAA News]
• A satellite navigation system helps marine navigation in China -- Ship captains are beginning to use an accurate satellite navigation system called EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) designed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for navigating China's fog shrouded Yangtze River. [ESA]
• Budget request includes increased funding for coastal and ocean ecosystems work -- The NOAA Administrator, Conrad C. Lautenbacher, recently released the proposed 2005 budget for NOAA, which includes $1.158 billion (or a $145.3 million increase over current funding) to protect, restore and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through ecosystem approach to management. Additional increases in funding for hydrographic surveying and mapping of harbors and coastal waterways to provide better information to mariners were also proposed. [NOAA News]
• Help for an estuary funded -- A coastline protection project designed to help protect the Severn Estuary, one of Britain's largest and most dynamic estuaries, has received funding . [EurekAlert!]
• A new "bumpy" jelly found in the deep ocean -- Using a deep-diving marine robot in the Gulf of California and in California's Monterey Bay, marine biologists with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have discovered softball sized masses of translucent jelly that have a covering of wart-like bumps stinging cells over feeding arms. These jellies are found at depths between 500 to 1800 feet. [MBARI News]
• Hawaiian farmers encouraged to sell seaweed-- A marine agronomist with the University of Arizona has been encouraging farmers on to harvest and sell an edible red seaweed found on Hawaii's reefs. [University of Arizona]
• 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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

In view of the contemporary concern regarding global climate change, scientists are studying the various factors that govern the ocean's ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are on the rise primarily because of the burning of fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil, natural gas). Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas (an atmospheric gas that absorbs and radiates infrared radiation) so that higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could lead to 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.

As noted in Chapter 3 of your DataStreme Ocean 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. As noted in Chapter 1 of your textbook, photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Moreover, through cellular respiration, all organisms release carbon dioxide. What about the effects of changes in salinity on the ocean's uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Recent research from the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii provides some insight.

Since the late 1980s, scientists have been recording ocean conditions at a site (dubbed ALOHA) about 100 km (62 mi) north of Oahu. 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 fact, in 2001, the rate of CO₂ uptake was only about 15% of what it was in 1989. Why the change in CO₂ 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 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 CO₂ uptake to the saltier waters. The balance of the decline may be due to changes in biological productivity or ocean mixing

Concept of the Week: Questions

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

• 9 February 1942...The French Line Normandie, the former 79,280-ton luxury ocean liner, burned and capsized in New York Harbor during its conversion to an Allied trip transport ship. (The History Channel)
• 10 February 1807...With the backing of President Thomas Jefferson, the US Coast Survey was authorized by Congress "to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States.". The Coast Survey represents the oldest U.S. scientific organization to encourage commerce and to support a growing economy in a safe and efficient manner. (NOAA History)
• 10 February 1940...USCGC Bibb and Duane made first transmissions as weather stations as part of the Atlantic Weather Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 11 February 1862...The Secretary of the Navy directed the formation of an organization to evaluate new inventions and technical development, which eventually led to the National Academy of Science. (Naval Historical Center)
• 12 February 1907...A collision of the steamer Larchmont and large schooner, the Harris Knowlton, during a blizzard resulted in the deaths of 332 people. Only nine survivors were rescued. The incident occurred off Rhode Island's Block Island, was the worst marine disaster in New England history. (RMS Titanic History)
• 12 February 1997...A combination of heavy surf and high winds contributed to the overturning of a U.S. Coast Guard motor life boat (MLB 44363) on a search and rescue mission when responding to a distress call from the sailing vessel Gale Runner in the stormy North Pacific Ocean off Washington State's Quillayute River Bar. Three of four crewmembers lost their lives in the first fatal sinking of this type of ship in its 35-year history. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (USCG Historian's Office)
• 13 February 1784...Ice floes blocked the Mississippi River at New Orleans, then passed into the Gulf of Mexico. The only other time this occurred was during the "Great Arctic Outbreak" of 1899. (David Ludlum)
• 13 February 1969...The National Transportation Safety Board issued its "Study of Recreational Boat Accidents, Boating Safety Programs, and Preventive Recommendations". (USCG Historian's Office)
• 13 February 1997...Ocean swells generated by a storm well to the northwest of the Hawaiian Islands generated surf with heights to 20 feet and some sets to 25 feet along the northern shores of the islands. A professional surfer was killed by 25-foot surf at Alligator Rock on Oahu's North Shore. Lifeguards aided more than thirty people. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 14 February 1779...Captain James Cook, the great English explorer and navigator, was murdered by natives of Hawaii during his third visit to the Pacific island group. (The History Channel)
• 14 February 1840...Officers from the USS Vincennes made the first landing in Antarctica on floating ice. (Naval Historical Center)
• 14 February 1903...An Act of Congress (31 Stat. L., 826, 827) that created the Department of Commerce and Labor provided for the transfer of the Lighthouse Service from the Treasury Department. This allowed the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to succeed to the authority vested in the Secretary of the Treasury under the existing legislation. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 15 February 1912...Fram reached latitude 78º 41' S, farthest south ever by ship. Therefore, the "Fram" became the first ship to have sailed the farthest north and the farthest south.
• 15 February 1982...An intense cyclone (low pressure system) off the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland capsized the Ocean Ranger, a drilling rig, killing 84 persons, and sank a Soviet freighter resulting in 33 more deaths. The cyclone produced 80 mph winds that whipped the water into waves fifty feet high. (David Ludlum)
• 15 February 1998...A "rogue" wave from the Pacific Ocean swept into the harbor at Port Arena, CA. This wave continued through a harbor parking lot, depositing sand, debris and logs, as well as moving thirty parked vehicles. No injuries were sustained. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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