Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

WEEK THREE: 13-17 February 2017

For Your Information

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2017 Campaign commences -- The second in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2017 will commence this Saturday (18 February) and continue through Monday, 27 February. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Orion in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The next series in the 2017 campaign is scheduled for 20-29 March 2017. [GLOBE at Night]
Participate in Field Photo Weekends -- The public is invited to join thousands of other citizen scientists from across the nation in the Field Photo Weekend during the upcoming President's Day Weekend (18, 19, 20 February 2017) by taking six digital photographs at a place that you choose and submit these photos via a smartphone app or on-line with your computer. These photos, to be taken in the four cardinal directions (North, East, South and West), upward and downward, will be placed in the Geo-Referenced Field Photo Library, which is a community- and citizen- science data portal for people to share, visualize and archive geo-referenced photos from the fields in the world. By taking photos this weekend along with three other Field Photo Weekends later this year (Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day weekends), one can begin to visualize seasonal changes in the local landscape. View the short (4-minute) animation describing the weekend. [Earth Observation and Modeling Facility University of Oklahoma]
Stewardship projects brought to classrooms by NOAA Climate Stewards-- The NOAA Climate Stewards Education Project (CSEP) was developed several years ago to build a climate-literate public actively engaged in climate stewardship by having formal and informal educators working with elementary through university age students with sustained professional development, collaborative tools and support. Over 1000 educators have participated in an online community that connects them through webinars with experts, regional workshops, and educational resources. [NOAA News]
Aspects of ocean water chemistry and marine life considered -- If you would like more background information concerning how marine organisms evolved in the ocean with a relatively narrow range of chemical and physical characteristics, please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics -- The only organized tropical cyclone (a low pressure system such as tropical storm or hurricane that forms over tropical oceans) that was found during the last week across any of the ocean basins was Tropical Storm Carlos (or 4S) in the western sections of the South Indian Ocean. Carlos had formed over the previous weekend and traveled initially toward the southeast, then to the east-southeast before making an abrupt turn toward the southwest early in the week, passing to the north of Mauritius and La Reunion Island. During the second half of last week, Carlos curved toward the southeast and weakened as it traveled across the western South Indian Ocean. this coming week. As of Saturday afternoon, the last advisory for Carlos was issued as the system was located approximately 870 miles to the south-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. During its travels, Carlos remained a tropical storm, never reaching the threshold to become a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale (maximum sustained surface winds of at least 74 mph), which would correspond to a weak hurricane in the North Atlantic basin. Additional information and satellite imagery pertaining to Carlos is available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Updated El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion & last La Niña advisory outlook are released -- Late last week forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) released their monthly El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion in which they posted their last La Niña advisory for the foreseeable future. They based their decision to issue a final La Niña advisory as La Niña conditions were no longer present at the start of February, resulting in the return of an ENSO-neutral situation with neither El Niño nor La Niña conditions. During the first week of February 2017, beginning in February and continuing through the remainder of the first half of 2017. Sea surface temperatures (SST) that were slightly (0.3 Celsius degrees) below average across the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, but above average (1.5 Celsius degrees) above average in the eastern equatorial Pacific. In addition to the pattern of sea surface temperature anomalies, the atmosphere patterns were also consistent with ENSO-neutral conditions in terms of the location of atmospheric convection and the low-level winds. The forecasters foresee a continuation of ENSO-neutral conditions through at least the end of meteorological spring 2017 in the Northern Hemisphere (March through May). [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
A blog was written by a scientist from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center describing the departure of La Niña conditions by early February. November. Attention was also paid to the water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific to some depth below the surface where the SST anomalies are typically obtained to ascertain the existence of El Niño, La Niña or ENSO-neutral conditions. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
(Editor's note: Documentation is provided on the maps page of the Climate.gov website of how the SST anomalies are determined for the ENSO monitoring region across the equatorial Pacific Ocean basin and used to determine if El Niño or La Niña conditions are occurring. EJH)
Explanations made as to why ocean has absorbed more carbon over past decade -- A geographer from the University of California Santa Barbara and colleagues report that the increase in the absorption of carbon dioxide by the oceans during the past decade was due to a slowing of the ocean's overturning circulation. A weaker overturning would bring less carbon-rich deep waters to the surface, limiting the amount of carbon dioxide that escapes from the deep ocean. They based their findings upon analysis of oceanographic temperature, salinity, carbon-14 data collected from more than 30 years of observations. The researchers also noted that this recent increase followed a decrease in carbon dioxide uptake during the 1990, which they also attributed to changes in oceanic circulation. While the current increased uptake of carbon dioxide would reduce the amount of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, which should slow the rate of global temperature increase, the increase in dissolved carbon dioxide should result in increased ocean acidification, which disintegrates the calcium carbonate shells of some marine organisms. [University of California Santa Barbara News]
Harmful algal bloom monitoring program for 2017 begins in California estuaries -- A team of scientists sponsored by NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) have begun monitoring the harmful algae and algal toxin in California estuaries for 2017. The team will survey estuarine and coastal waters from the Klamath estuary in Northern California to the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and several San Diego estuaries in Southern California throughout this year. At each of more than 10 sampling locations, the team will measure a collection of parameters (total toxin, dissolved toxin, dissolved nutrients, chlorophyll a, phytoplankton species/genera identification, temperature, pH, and alkalinity). Passive sampling devices called Solid Phase Adsorption Toxin Tracking samplers will be deployed at most locations. [NOAA NCCOS News]
Updates provided on proposed national marine sanctuaries -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has proposed two new marine sanctuaries to be added to its system of 13 national marine sanctuaries and two marine national monuments. The two new sanctuaries include:
- The Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary in Maryland, located approximately 40 miles south of Washington, DC on the Potomac River. Since this site contains nearly 200 known vessels that sank in Mallows Bay over the last three centuries, the goal of this new sanctuary is to conserve and better share vast maritime heritage resources with the public.
- The Wisconsin-Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary is located in the waters of Lake Michigan off the eastern shore of Wisconsin and contains at least 37 shipwrecks and related underwater cultural resources that possess exceptional historic, archaeological, and recreational value. A new report examines the social and economic dimensions of resource management related to this proposed site and supports the conclusion that establishment of a sanctuary is likely to have a direct, long-term, beneficial impact on communities beyond the sanctuary boundaries.
Nutrient ingredient for fish feed gets approval -- The science advisor for NOAA Fisheries' Office of Aquaculture was recently interviewed concerning the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recent approval of an ingredient called taurine for the use in fish feed. Taurine is important for proper behavior in fish. This approval provides fish farmers with more options and reduces the nation's reliance upon feed made from other fish. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Stories]
Thinning Arctic sea ice stimulates springtime ocean plant growth -- A contractor with NOAA Research and Climate Program Office wrote a feature for ClimateWatch Magazine describing how the net productivity of the Arctic Ocean basin has increased over the last 13 years. This increase has been especially noticeable in spring because the Arctic sea ice is thinner and younger than in the earlier years, allowing for more photosynthesis. She provides a map of total chlorophyll concentration across the Arctic Ocean in spring 2016 using data collected by sensors on NASA satellites and a graph showing the changes in the net primary productivity in the Barents Sea from 2003 through 2016. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Monitoring Antarctica's changing Larsen Ice Shelf from space -- A mosaic of four natural-color satellite images centered on the northern part of Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf was made from data collected by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat 8 in early January 2016. The Larsen Ice Self, situated along the northeastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, has undergone dramatic change as the region has experienced rapid warming over the last century. This mosaic shows the remnants of two large sections of the fractured ice shelf that have been identified as Larsen A and B. Several smaller embayments to the north that are covered by a much thinner layer of sea ice are also apparent on this mosaic. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Sea-level change in Southeast Asia 6000 years ago may have implications for current coastal dwellers -- A team of ocean scientists and statisticians from the US, Singapore, Indonesia and the Netherlands recently reported on the nearly two-foot changes in sea level in East and Southeast Asia that occurred approximately 6000 years ago, pointing to these fluctuations were without assistance from climate change influenced by humans. The researchers based their conclusions from their reconstruction of changes in sea level from analysis of samples obtained from coral micro atolls located near the Indonesian island of Belitung, which is between Sumatra and Borneo. They noted that the recurrence of such a change could be catastrophic since 100 million people currently live within three feet of sea level across East and Southeast Asia. [Rutgers University News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

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

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...The famous British scientific navigator, Captain James Cook, Royal Navy, was killed by natives of the Sandwich Islands on the Kona coast of what is now the state of Hawaii's Big Island. His geographic discoveries and three scientific expeditions of the Pacific made him the most famous navigator since Magellan. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
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)
14 February 1912...The first diesel-powered submarine was commissioned in Groton, CT. (Wikipedia)
14 February 1954...A waterspout was observed two miles east of Baranof, AK, an unusual occurrence for Alaska, particularly in winter. Just prior to the formation of the waterspout, a "terrific wind from the south out of a bay inside Warm Springs Bay" lifted water 20 feet and looked "as if it were boiling". (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
15 February 1982...An intense storm system off the Atlantic coast between Newfoundland and Greenland produced 80 mph winds which whipped water into waves 50 feet high. The storm capsized a drilling rig, killing 84 people, and sank a freighter killing 33. This storm was called a "meteorological bomb" as the storm "exploded" or rapidly intensified. (National Weather Service files)
16 February 1832...The HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin onboard reached St-Pauls (1 degrees N, 29 degrees W).
16 February 1993...The Haitian passenger ferry Neptune sank, sending 1,215 Haitians to their deaths. Coast Guard units participated in the search and rescue operation but found no survivors. They then assisted in recovering the bodies of the victims. (USCG Historian's Office)
17 February 1836...The HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin left Tasmania.
17 February 1867...The first ship passed through the Suez Canal. (Wikipedia)
18 February 1828...More than 100 vessels were destroyed in a storm at Gibraltar.
18 February 1846...A General Order was issued by the Secretary of the US Department of Navy "on Port and Starboard," in which the term "port" replaced "larboard." (Naval Historical Center)
19 February 1473...Nicolaus Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy, was born in Torun in north central Poland. He was the first modern European scientist to propose that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. (The History Channel)
19 February 1845...The Lighthouse Establishment was transferred to the Revenue Marine Bureau. Metal buoys were first put into service. They were riveted iron barrels that replaced the older wooden stave construction. (USCG Historian's Office)
19 February 1972...A vicious coastal storm dumped 10 to 20 inches of snow over interior sections of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states and caused some of the worst coastal damage of the century in New England. Storm surges up to 4.5 ft and winds gusting over 80 mph along coastal Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine resulted in extensive property damage and tremendous beach erosion. Twenty-seven houses were destroyed and 3000 damaged in Massachusetts alone. (Intellicast)
19 February 1977...Using the research submersible Alvin, deep-ocean researchers John B. Corliss and John M. Elmond found an extraordinary oasis of life on the Pacific Ocean floor off the Galapagos Islands, including new types of worms, clams and crabs around geothermal hot water vents. These organisms appeared to depend upon bacteria oxidizing hydrogen sulfide contained in the volcanic gases spewing out of the hot springs. (Today in Science History)