Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK THREE: 6-10 February 2006

Ocean in the News

(Thurs.) Coral warning program to be expanded -- At the end of last week, NOAA officials announced that the NOAA Coral Reef Watch Satellite Bleaching Alert monitoring system will be expanded from 6 to 24 sites across the United States and the Caribbean in an effort to enhance the management of coral reefs and meet the international partnership goals of President Bush's Ocean Action Plan. [NOAA News]
(Thurs.) Undersea technology on display -- The undersea technology employed by various underwater research and ocean exploration projects operated by NOAA are described in an online magazine article. Such technology includes research vessels, underwater vehicles/submersibles and diving techniques. [NOAA Magazine]
(Thurs.) Data from several satellites help solve Hurricane Lili puzzle -- Researchers from Mississippi State University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research used data obtained by a variety of NASA and NOAA satellites to determine why Hurricane Lili underwent an unexpected and rapid weakening as it was about to make landfall along the Louisiana Gulf coast in 2002. These satellite data, along with data from aircraft, appear to indicate that dry air was entrained in the low levels of the hurricane. [NASA GSFC]
(Thurs.) Ancient Greek shipwreck photographed by deep-sea robot -- An autonomous underwater vehicle operated by a research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research made a high-precision photometric survey of a Greek merchant ship that sank in approximately 200 feet of water in the eastern Aegean Sea during the fourth century BC. [MIT News Office]
(Thurs.) Another bleaching risk for Australian reefs foreseen -- Based upon the analysis of above average sea surface temperatures along Australia's northeastern coast during the last four months, an international team of scientists recently warned that the Australian Great Barrier Reef could experience another bleaching incident that could be as bad as that in 2001-2002 in which 60 percent of the reef was adversely affected. [ENN]
(Tues.) Coast Pilot Disaster Impact website unveiled -- The NOAA Office of Coast Survey recently unveiled a special Coast Pilot Disaster Impact website that is designed to help speed efforts at recovery efforts currently taking place at 21 major port facilities along the Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf coasts damaged or destroyed by last year's Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Tracking whales by listening -- Researchers with NOAA Fisheries, other agencies and several universities have developed a network of autonomous hydrophones, or passive listening devices, that have been moored across the Gulf of Alaska and southern Bering Sea, which should record the sounds of whales and help in the tracking of seasonal whale migration. [NOAA Magazine]
(Tues.) Hurricane transformation process captured by satellite -- Scientists at Florida State University and the Naval Research Laboratory used data obtained by sensors onboard NASA's TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission) satellite to monitor how tropical cyclones (atmospheric low pressure systems that form over tropical oceans and include tropical storms and hurricanes) can undergo several transformations in structure. One of the tropical cyclones studied was Hurricane Ophelia last September. [NASA GSFC]
(Tues.) Norwegians should prepare for possible oil spill -- With increased oil tanker traffic from northwest Russia plying the Barents Sea, the environmental group WWF-Norway is urging the Norwegian government to become better prepared to handle a potential oil spill in the Barents Sea, claimed to be Europe's last large, clean and relatively untouched marine ecosystem. [ENN]
(Tues.) Satellite radar unit helps monitor a variable sea surface -- Approximately 100 researchers from 20 nations met recently in Italy to discuss how data obtained from Synthetic Aperture Radar instruments onboard the European Space Agency's Envisat and ERS-2 satellites can be used in various research projects to determine local sea state and to track prevailing surface winds and ocean currents. [ESA]
Tragic ferry disaster occurs in the Red Sea -- An Egyptian ferry sank in the Red Sea last Friday with the loss of approximately 1000 passengers and crew. Nearly 400 people from the sunken ferry were rescued. An onboard fire may have been the cause for the sinking. [CNN]
A La Niña event is officially underway -- After suggesting the possible onset of a La Niña event last month, scientists with the NOAA Climate Prediction Center announced last Friday that this event had officially returned. A La Niña event is an anomalous atmospheric and oceanic circulation regime that is best typified by abnormally cold sea surface temperatures across the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Such an event can produce anomalous events elsewhere, often including increased storms that hit the Pacific Northwest and increased drought across the South and Southwestern States. [NOAA News]
Ocean forecast system expanded across entire North Atlantic basin -- The Marine Modeling and Analysis Branch of NOAA's Environmental Modeling Center recently announced that a new Real-Time Ocean Forecast System has been implemented that will provide the maritime community with a variety of forecasts ranging from the short-term "nowcasts" to five-day forecasts for the entire North Atlantic Ocean basin. [NOAA News]
Death of seabirds could be due to the weather -- Scientists say that the mass starvation deaths of seabirds near the northwestern tip of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula may be the result of unusual weather regimes that produced wind and surface ocean current patterns not conducive for maintenance of the network of marine food needed by the seabirds. [USA Today]
Oil spill in Alaskan waters -- An ice floe struck an oil tanker loading fuel oil along the shore of Alaska's Cook Inlet, sending the tanker adrift and then to run aground, resulting in a small oil spill according to officials from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the oil refining company. [ENN]
Government officials urged to act fast on ocean policy -- Leaders from two expert commissions -- a Presidential Panel and the Pew Oceans Commission -- are urging the President, Congress and state governors too move more quickly in examining and addressing the nation's ocean policies. [ENN]
Images showing impact of Hurricane Katrina available on Google Earth -- Aerial images taken of the Gulf Coast between New Orleans, LA and Panama City, FL before and after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina by NASA and the US Geological Survey can now be viewed on the Internet using the software of Google Earth. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Seabirds along South American coast succumb to pollution -- A team of scientists, including those from the University of Washington and the Argentine research center Centro Nacional Patagónico, recently reported that years of chronic oil pollution of Atlantic Ocean waters offshore of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina have had an adverse affect upon seabirds, such as the Magellanic penguin. [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: Sea Water Salinity and Carbon Dioxide

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 may be contributing 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 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. And 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? Research from the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii provides some insight on this question.

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

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

Historical Events

6 February 1933...The highest reliably observed ocean wave was seen by crew of the US Navy oiler, USS Ramapo, in the North Pacific during the night on its way from Manila to San Diego. The wave was estimated (by triangulation) to have a height of 112 feet. Average winds at the time were 78 mph. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (See additional discussion on highest ocean waves)
7 February 1969...USCGC Tern, commissioned on this date and stationed in New York, embodied an advanced concept in servicing aids to navigation. Her over-the-stern gantry system of handling buoys is unique. The automation and modernization of over-age, isolated lighthouses and light stations showed significant progress this year. A new, more effective version of the LAMP (Lighthouse Automation and Modernization Project) plan was promulgated in this year. (USCG Historian's Office)
7 February 1978...The worst winter storm of record struck coastal New England. The storm produced 27.5 inches of snow at Boston, and nearly 50 inches in northeastern Rhode Island. The fourteen-foot tide at Portland, ME was probably the highest of the century. Winds gusted to 79 mph at Boston, and reached 92 mph at Chatham, MA. A hurricane-size surf caused 75 deaths and 500 million dollars damage. (David Ludlum)
8 February 1987...A powerful storm produced blizzard conditions in the Great Lakes Region. North winds of 50 to 70 mph raised the water level of southern Lake Michigan two feet, and produced waves 12 to 18 feet high, causing seven million dollars damage along the Chicago area shoreline. It was the most damage caused by shoreline flooding and erosion in the history of the city of Chicago. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
8 January 2001...The log-carrying ship, Leo Forest, lost much of its cargo as over 2300 logs went overboard approximately 400 miles north of Adak, AK. The ship lost power in waves that were greater than 35 feet and the loss of the logs caused the ship to list 10 degrees to port (left) with the bow three feet down. Fortunately, the ship made safe passage to Dutch Harbor for repairs. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
9 February 1942...The French Liner Normandie, a 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 the first transmissions as weather stations as part of the Atlantic Weather Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)
11 February 1809...The American inventor, Robert Fulton patented his steamboat, the Clermont, for the first time, although he had made the first successful steamboat trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany, NY in 1807. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science)
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)
11 February 1971...The US and the USSR, along with other nations, signed the multilateral Seabed Treaty outlawing the emplacement of nuclear weapons (or "weapons of mass destruction") on the ocean floor in international waters, or beyond a 12-mile coastal zone. (Wikipedia)
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 and was the worst disaster in New England maritime 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)