WEEK FIVE: 3-7 October 2011

• Celebrate Earth Science Week 2011 -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the National Weather Service, along with NASA, the US Geological Survey and several professional scientific organizations such as the American Geological Institute have recognized next week (9-15 October 2011) as Earth Science Week 2011 to help the public gain a better understanding and appreciation for the earth sciences and to encourage stewardship of the Earth. This year's theme for the 13th annual Earth Science Week is " Our Ever-Changing Earth", designed to "engage young people and the public in learning about the natural processes that shape our planet over time." [American Geological Institute]
• Three NOAA scientists receive presidential award -- Last week, three high achieving three NOAA scientists were named recipients of the 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) The recipients were an ecologist at the National Ocean Service's Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research in Beaufort, NC; a whale and dolphin research ecologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, HI; and a fishery dynamics researcher at the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Narragansett, RI. [NOAA News]

• Eye on the tropics --- During the past week the weather remained active across the tropical ocean basins in the Northern Hemisphere:
• In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Ophelia, weakened to become a remnant low near the northern Leeward Islands at the start of last week. After a few days, this remnant low reformed into a tropical depression and then a tropical storm as it drifted to the northwest. By late in the week, Ophelia intensified to become the four hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season as it began traveling to the north. On Friday, Hurricane Ophelia became a major category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. During the weekend, this major hurricane continued its travel to the north, passing to the east of Bermuda. By Sunday afternoon, this hurricane was heading toward Newfoundland. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Tropical Storm Ophelia, together with satellite images.
  Tropical Storm Philippe, which had formed south of the Cape Verde Islands over the previous weekend, traveled generally to the northwest across the tropical North Atlantic through the week. This tropical storm was the sixteenth named tropical cyclone of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, By late in this just-concluded weekend, Philippe continued its travels toward the northwest, well away from landmasses. Satellite images and additional information on Tropical Storm Philippe can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
• In eastern North Pacific basin, Hurricane Hilary traveled to the northwest off the southwestern coast of Mexico during the previous weekend as a major category-4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. During the week, Hillary turned toward the west, moving away from the Mexican coast, with slow weakening. By the end of the week, Hilary weakened to a tropical storm and then a tropical depression as it turned toward the northwest before becoming a remnant low last Friday. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information on Hurricane Hillary, including satellite images.
• In the western North Pacific basin, two major typhoons (Nesat and Nalgae) made landfall in the Philippine Islands last week, accompanied by strong winds and torrential rain that left over 55 fatalities in the northern islands as of late this past weekend. [USA Today]
  The westward-traveling Typhoon Nesat became a major category 3 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale just prior to making landfall on Luzon early last week. Nesat weakened to a category 1 typhoon after passing across Luzon and then traveling across the South China Sea. By late in the week, it made landfall on China's Hainan Island and then after traveling across the Gulf of Tonkin as a tropical storm, made another landfall in the northern provinces of Vietnam. Additional information on Typhoon Nesat can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page, along with satellite imagery.
  Typhoon Nalgae formed during the early part of the week over the western North Pacific near the Northern Mariana Islands and took a track similar to Typhoon Nesat. Traveling to the west, this system became a super typhoon as it strengthened to a category 4 typhoon before reaching Luzon in the northern Philippines by the end of the week. After passing across Luzon, Typhoon Nalgae continued westward across the South China Sea over this past weekend, weakening to a tropical storm by late Sunday (local time). See the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information on Super typhoon Nalgae.
  Tropical Storm Haitang meandered across the South China Sea early last week as a minimal tropical storm. This system weakened to a tropical depression and then dissipated before reaching the northern Vietnam coast.
• Restoration awards announced for Louisiana wetlands and barrier islands -- Early last week, Acting Secretary of Commerce and Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank announced that three Louisiana projects were to receive $102 million in awards under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act program that are designed to restore deteriorated wetlands and barrier island habitats along the Louisiana coast. [NOAA News]
• Impact of Gulf oil spill on marsh fish species assessed -- Researchers at Louisiana State University (LSU) recently reported on a study of the effects of last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill on fish living in Louisiana marshes. They found that although concentrations of oil constituents in the water and fish tissues were hardly detectable, biological effects in sampled fish indicate dramatic responses that were indicative of exposures to the toxic components of oil. [LSU Media Center]
• Monitoring the toxic algal blooms along California coast -- Scientists at the University of Southern California have developed a new method for monitoring neurotoxin-producing algae that have been responsible for an increasing frequency of toxic algal blooms (often called "red tides") in the coastal waters off California. These blooms can increase the amount of harmful toxins in the shellfish that California residents consume. [EurekAlert!]
• Reefs appear to recover quickly after mass extinction -- An international team of researchers has found that a variety of organisms formed ocean reefs within 1.5 million years following the Earth's largest mass extinction that occurred at the end of the Permian era approximately 252 million years ago. This mass extinction is thought to have been caused by major fluctuations in sea level, carbon content, acidification and oxygen deficiency in seawater. Previously, the length of recovery of life on the reefs was thought to have taken five million years. [EurekAlert!]
• Sharks found to be in big-time trouble -- Researchers at Australia's ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University who developed a method to measure worldwide shark populations warn that the shark populations are in serious trouble not only on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, but also globally. [ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies]
• An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Report from the Field -- Bill Huskin, the DataStreme Ocean LIT Leader from Doylestown, PA, reported on discussions with his friends who own property on the barrier islands along the New Jersey coast. They told him that Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee eroded much of the beach enhancement that their communities had completed at great expense prior to the onset of the summer tourism season. He said that while they were discouraged about the loss, they feel fortunate that the beaches had provided a buffer that prevented further damage to homes and infrastructure.

Concept of the Week: The Ocean and the Global Radiation Budget

The ocean is an important player in the radiational heating and cooling of Planet Earth. For one, covering about 71% of Earth's surface, the ocean is a primary control of how much solar radiation is absorbed (converted to heat) at the Earth's surface. Also, the ocean is the main source of the most important greenhouse gas (water vapor) and is a major regulator of the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), another greenhouse gas.

On an annual average, the ocean absorbs about 92% of the solar radiation striking its surface; the balance is reflected to space. Most of this absorption takes place within about 200 m (650 ft) of the surface with the depth of penetration of sunlight limited by the amount of suspended particles and discoloration caused by dissolved substances. On the other hand, at high latitudes multi-year pack ice greatly reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the ocean. The snow-covered surface of sea ice absorbs only about 15% of incident solar radiation and reflects away the rest. At present, multi-year pack ice covers about 7% of the ocean surface with greater coverage in the Arctic Ocean than the Southern Ocean (mostly in Antarctica's Weddell Sea).

The atmosphere is nearly transparent to incoming solar radiation but much less transparent to outgoing infrared (heat) radiation. This differential transparency with wavelength is the basis of the greenhouse effect. Certain trace gases in the atmosphere absorb outgoing infrared and radiate some of this energy to Earth's surface, thereby significantly elevating the planet's surface temperature. Most water vapor, the principal greenhouse gas, enters the atmosphere via evaporation of seawater. Carbon dioxide, a lesser greenhouse gas, cycles into and out of the ocean depending on the sea surface temperature and photosynthesis/respiration by marine organisms in surface waters. Cold water can dissolve more carbon dioxide than warm water so that carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere where surface waters are chilled (at high latitudes and upwelling zones) and released to the atmosphere where surface waters are heated (at low latitudes). Photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and all organisms release carbon dioxide via cellular respiration.

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. If the ocean's pack ice cover were to shrink, the ocean would absorb [(more)(less)] solar radiation.
2. All other factors being equal, if sea surface temperatures were to rise, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolved in surface ocean waters would likely [(increase) (decrease)].

• 3 October 1841...The "October Gale," the worst of record for Nantucket, MA, caught the Cape Cod fishing fleet at sea. Forty ships were driven ashore on Cape Cod, and 57 men perished from the town of Truro alone. Heavy snow fell inland, with 18 inches reported near Middletown, CT and 3 inches at Concord, MA. (David Ludlum)
• 4 October 1582...The Gregorian Calendar was implemented by Pope Gregory XIII to correct for an increasing discrepancy between the leap year corrections of the Julian Calendar and the actual length of the year marked by the Earth's orbit of the sun. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, 4 October of this year was followed directly by 15 October, skipping over 10 days. (Wikipedia)
• 4 October 1869...A great storm struck New England. The storm reportedly was predicted twelve months in advance by a British officer named Saxby. Heavy rains and flooding plagued all of New England, with strong winds and high tides along the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Canton, CT was deluged with 12.35 inches of rain. (David Ludlum)
• 5 October 1972...Heavy rains, mostly the remnants of Tropical Storm Joanne, fell across much of Arizona. It was believed to be the first time in Arizona weather history that a tropical storm entered the state with its circulation still intact. The center was over Flagstaff early on the 7th. (3rd-7th) (The Weather Channel)
• 5-7 October 1999...A storm southeast of New Zealand caused surf to reach heights of 12 ft along the south shores of all the Hawaiian Islands, flooding some roads and parking lots. The lobby of the Kihei Beach Resort on Maui and three ground floor units were flooded. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 7 October 1737...A furious cyclone in the Bay of Bengal caused a major disaster at the mouth of the Hoogby River near Calcutta, India. As many as 300,000 people were killed, mainly as the result of the storm's forty foot high surge. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 9 October 1873...LT Charles Belknap called a meeting at the Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the U.S. Navy. (Navy Historical Center)
• 9 October 1967...A cyclone of relatively small dimension with a surface width of only 31 miles, hit India's coast at Orissa and moved to the northeast along the coast for 75 miles. As many as 1000 people and 50,000 head of cattle died. A surge in the storm's wake penetrated 16 miles inland. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)

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Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2011, The American Meteorological Society.