Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK ONE: 23-27 January 2006

Ocean in the News:

(Tues.) Geosynchronous satellite to be moved -- Last week, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Argentina Comisión Nacional de Activades Espaciales and the World Meteorological Organization announced that NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-10 will be repositioned in October pending the launch of GOES-N in order to provide satellite coverage over South America. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Invasion of giant jellyfish -- Representatives from Japanese fishing communities met last week to find a solution to problems associated with the invasion of Echizen kurage, or Nomura's jellyfish that started last July, moving from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific coast of the Japanese Islands. [ENN]
(Tues.) Overfishing could result in smaller fish -- Researchers at the University of California-Riverside report that the selective overfishing of the largest sized individual fish from a given fish population could result in genetic changes in the species that would result in fewer fish eggs and smaller sized fish. [University of California-Riverside]
Gulf seafood quality appears not to have been negatively impacted -- Scientists from the NOAA Fisheries Service recently announced that the results of their analyses of the second and third rounds of toxicology surveys of samples of Gulf water, marine species and sediment appear to indicate no significant elevated levels of toxins of bacteria following last fall's Hurricane Katrina [NOAA News]
Wilma was a record setter -- Scientists with the National Hurricane Center released their report of Hurricane Wilma early last week, which adjusted the strength of last fall's Hurricane Wilma. Although Wilma appears to have made landfall slightly weaker than previously thought, the scientists determined that it was the most powerful hurricane that has been recorded in the North Atlantic basin in over 150 years, based on the lowest minimum central pressure (882 millibars or 26.04 inches of mercury) and strongest maximum sustained wind speeds (185 mph). [USA Today] The complete Wilma report from the National Hurricane Center is available in pdf format.
Whale rescue was unsuccessful -- A whale that swam upstream along Britain's Thames River to central London died Saturday despite efforts by rescuers to transport it back to the North Sea. This bottle-nosed whale was the first whale to be seen near Big Ben and Parliament since whale-watching records commenced in 1913. [CNN]
Sea surface height changes could signal La Niña conditions -- Measurements of the sea surface height to within centimeters obtained from the US-French Jason satellite have shown a gradual cooling of the eastern equatorial Pacific late last year, consistent with the development of a weak La Niña episode. A La Niña episode is an anomalous atmospheric and oceanic circulation regime that can affect the weather around the planet. [NASA Earth Observatory]
A warning issued concerning dwindling fish stocks -- Citing a report issued late last week, the fisheries commissioner for the European Union has warned that member countries are not making as great an effort as needed to police fishing restrictions, meaning that overfishing soon could cause commercial extinction of some fish stocks. [ENN]
Hazard mitigation could be cost-effective -- A researcher at Pennsylvania State University who led a team for the National Institute of Building Sciences claims that for every dollar spent to mitigate the effects associated with such natural hazards such as hurricanes and flooding, four dollars would not be needed in the future to repair the damages or compensate for losses from subsequent disasters. [EurekAlert!]
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.

Concept of the Week: Touring the DataStreme Ocean Website

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Ocean News.

Welcome to DataStreme Ocean! You are embarking on a study of the world ocean and the role of the ocean in the Earth system. This unique teacher enhancement course focuses on the flow and transformations of energy and water into and out of the ocean, the internal properties and circulation of the ocean, interactions between the ocean and the other components of the Earth system, and the human/societal impacts on and responses to those interactions. Throughout this learning experience, you will be using the DataStreme Ocean website to access and interpret a variety of environmental information, including recent observational data. The objective of this initial Concept of the Week is to explore features of the DS Ocean website.

On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Ocean News that includes Ocean in the News (a summary listing of recent events related to the ocean), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to the ocean in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past events such as tsunamis or specific advances in the understanding of oceanography). When appropriate, Supplemental Information will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the DS Ocean website to access and download the second part of weekly Investigations A & B (plus supporting images) that begin in your DataStreme Ocean Investigations Manual. These materials should be available by noon (Eastern Time) on Tuesday and Thursday. Click the appropriate links to download and print these electronic components of the investigations as well as your Chapter Progress and Investigations Response forms.

The body of the DS Ocean website provides links to the Earth System, information on Physical & Chemical, Geological, and Biological aspects of the ocean, Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, the Great Lakes, and extras--a glossary of terms, maps, educational links, and DataStreme Ocean information. Following each section is a link to other sites that examine the various subsystems of the Earth system. Let's take a quick tour to become more familiar with the DS Ocean website.

Under Physical & Chemical, click on Sea Surface Temperatures. This image uses a color scale to depict the global pattern of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) (in degrees Celsius) averaged over a recent 7-day period and based on measurements by infrared sensors onboard Earth-orbiting satellites. (Depending on your browser, you may have to place your mouse cursor on the slide bar to the right and scroll down to view the entire image.) Compare SSTs in the Northern Hemisphere with those in the Southern Hemisphere. Return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Geological, click on Current Earthquake Activity. (Note: This may load slowly.) The USGS Current World Seismicity page provides a global map of the locations of seismic (earthquake) events color-coded for the last week or 30 days. The diameters of the circles represent the magnitude of the most recent earthquakes. Note how earthquakes are concentrated along the margin of the Pacific Ocean. Details of recent earthquakes can be found by clicking on their map circles and are given in Current Earthquakes for the U.S. and World. Return to the DS Ocean website.

The ocean is home to a wide variety of habitats and organisms. Under Biological, click on Ocean "Color" (Productivity). This is a satellite-derived (SeaWiFS) color-coded map of biological productivity in the surface waters of the world ocean averaged for the period October 1978 to date. Orange and red indicates the highest productivity and dark blue and violet indicate the lowest productivity. Note the vast areas of relatively low productivity over the central regions of the subtropical ocean basins. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, click on TRMM Tropical Rainfall. The TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) page includes color-coded maps of the Monthly Mean Rainrate (in mm per day) across the tropics. Click on "July" for example. Changes in rainfall are linked to large-scale shifts in the atmosphere/ocean circulation in the tropics. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Take a few minutes when you have time to browse the other data and information sources available via the DS Ocean website. You should "bookmark" ("favorites") this page on your computer. Return frequently to learn more about the many resources on the ocean in the Earth system. Bon voyage!

Concept of the Week: Questions

The latest global sea surface temperature map indicates that SSTs are generally higher over the [(western)(eastern)] tropical Pacific Ocean.
The USGS map of Current Earthquake Activity indicates that earthquakes appear to be more common along the [(east)(west)] coast of North America.

Historical Events

26 January 1700...The Cascadia Earthquake (magnitude 9) took place off the coast of British Columbia, as evidenced by Japanese records. Landslides and a tsunami destroyed many Native American villages along the coasts of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, including Vancouver Island. Japanese written history tells of a massive tsunami striking fishing villages the next day along the coast of Honshu, killing hundreds. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
26 January 1983...The California coast was battered by a storm, which produced record high tides, thirty-two foot waves, and mudslides, causing millions of dollars damage. The storm then moved east and dumped four feet of snow on Lake Tahoe. (22^nd-29^th) (The Weather Channel)
28 January 1946...Canada's greatest sailing ship, Bluenose, foundered on a Haitian reef; all hands were saved. Her likeness remains on the Canadian ten-cent coin. (Wikipedia)
28 January 1969...A series of storms that battered Southern California from the 18^th to the 28^th led to $125 million damage in the Los Angeles Basin, along with approximately 9 storm and traffic-related deaths in California. Twenty feet of water covered Sherman Island, a region that contains more than 10,000 dike-protected agricultural acres, when a dike failed. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
28 January 1971...A waterspout swept into Hawaii's Kailua Bay, then into the business and hotel district of Kailua-Kona, destroying or severely damaging a number of buildings including 40 apartment units and collapsing a 6-story hotel under construction. Amazingly, only four people were injured. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
29-30 January 1966... A hurricane that struck Samoa was responsible for 50 deaths, destroyed more than one-third of the homes and damaged the remainder. As many as 50,000 people were left homeless. Swains Island was leveled by the hurricane. Winds gusted to 100 mph at Pago Pago. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
29 January 1983...A series of Pacific coast storms finally came to an end. The storms, attributed in part to the anomalous ocean-atmosphere phenomenon, "El Niño," produced ocean swells 15 to 20 feet high that ravaged the beaches of southern California. Much of the damage was to homes of movie stars in the exclusive Malibu Colony. (The Weather Channel)