Weekly Ocean News

WEEK FIVE: 1-5 October 2012

For Your Information

Light in the oceans -- If you would like information on the distribution of sunlight in the upper levels of the ocean has an impact upon the distribution of marine life and various processes such as photosynthesis in these layers, please read this week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics -- Several tropical cyclones were found across the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans during the last week:

In the North Atlantic basin, the rejuvenated Tropical Storm Nadine traveled generally westward to the southwest of the Azores during the first half of last week, before turning toward the northwest late in the week. At that time, this tropical storm intensified to become a hurricane for a second and then a third time. As of Sunday, Hurricane Nadine (a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) was moving off to the northwest in the central North Atlantic. As of that time, this long-lasting tropical cyclone had been in existence for roughly 17 days. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Nadine.

In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Miriam intensified rapidly at the start of last week to become a major category 3 hurricane as it traveled to the northwest well off the western coast of Mexico. After becoming the ninth hurricane of 2012 in the eastern North Pacific, Miriam weakened to a tropical storm and then to a remnant low by late in the week. Additional information and satellite imagery on former Hurricane Miriam can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
The fourteenth named tropical cyclone of 2012 formed over the waters to the southeast of Mexico's Baja California near the end of last week. This system was identified as Tropical Storm Norman. However, Norman moved into the Gulf of California, brushed the western coast of mainland Mexico before turning to the west as a tropical depression. At the end of the weekend, Tropical Depression Norman was approaching the eastern coast of the Baja Peninsula. See the NASA Hurricane Page for information on Tropical Storm Norman.
In the western North Pacific basin, Super Typhoon Jelawat intensified to a category 5 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale early last week as it traveled to the north-northwest across the Philippine Sea to the east of the Philippines. During the week, this major typhoon weakened slightly as it curved to the north and passed to the east of Taiwan. By this past weekend, Typhoon Jelawat weakened as it passed near Okinawa and some of the other Japanese islands before weakening to a tropical storm. See the NASA Hurricane Page for more information on Super Typhoon Jelawat.
A tropical storm identified as Ewiniar formed to the south-southwest of Iwo To in the western North Pacific early last week. This tropical storm traveled to the north and then northeast as it passed to the southeast of the main Japanese Islands. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Tropical Storm Ewiniar.

Space agency's hurricane mission relies on new technology -- NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3), a five-year mission managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, commenced this hurricane season to enhance understanding of those processes that underlie hurricane intensity change in the Atlantic Ocean basin. This mission relies on state of the art technology such as NASA's robotic Global Hawks aircraft that can collect atmospheric data to altitudes greater than 60,000 feet during flight durations that can reach 28 hours. [NASA HS3 Hurricane Mission]
Ocean acidification appears to accelerate in nutrient-rich waters -- In a study conducted by researchers from NOAA and the University of Georgia, nutrient-rich areas of the ocean caused by decaying algal blooms appear to have increased levels of ocean acidification that place additional stress on marine resources and the coastal economies that depend on them. [NOAA News]
Algae bloom in Barents Sea seen from space -- An image obtained from the MODIS instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite in late August shows a blue-green swirl in the surface waters of the Barents Sea north of Norway and Russia that indicates a phytoplankton bloom of plant-like algae in these waters. [NASA Earth Observatory]
New autonomous underwater glider collects data along Gulf Coast -- A new underwater robotic vehicle called iRobot seaglider is now being used by scientists to collect important environmental data that includes temperature, salinity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic matter, pressure, turbidity and chlorophyll to depths of 1000 meters in the waters along the Gulf Coast. This new profiling glider was developed in a partnership between Shell Oil Company, the US Integrated Ocean Observing System, and NOAA's National Data Buoy Center. [National Ocean Service]
Hurricane helped pollute a watershed in New York's Catskills -- Researchers at Yale University claim that the torrential rain associated with the Hurricane Irene when it moved across New York State in August 2011 increased the amount of sediment and organic matter in a stream that flows into the reservoir located in the Catskill Mountains that supplies New York City with drinking water. They sampled the water quality of the stream at 3.5-hour intervals during and following the rain event that produced 11 inches over a two-day span. The researchers warn that water quality of lakes and coastal systems would be altered if hurricanes intensify in a warming world. [Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies]
Salt marshes could play role in slowing warning of climate -- Researchers at the University of Virginia and at Scotland's University of Edinburgh claim that as temperatures increase and seas rise, salt marshes could more rapidly capture and remove atmospheric carbon dioxide, which would ultimately enable these salt marshes to play a role in the rate at which the climate is changing toward warmer conditions. These important coastal ecosystems, consisting primarily of grasses, protect shorelines from storms and provide a habitat for both marine and terrestrial wildlife. [University of Virginia Today]
Ancient extreme climate change linked to early animal evolution -- Geochemists from the University of California, Riverside and their colleagues from other research institutions in the US and China claim that they have uncovered new evidence from a fossil record linking extreme climate change, oxygen rise, and early animal evolution at approximately 635 million years ago. Using data collected from rocks in South China, they report that a marked increase in algae and animal fossils occurred at this time could be associated with a sudden spike in oxygen levels following severe glaciations, This new evidence of a life-sustaining oxygenation event pre-dates previous estimates by more than 50 million years. [University of California, Riverside Today]
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.

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

If the ocean's pack ice cover were to shrink, the ocean would absorb [(more)(less)] solar radiation.
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)].

Historical Events

1 October 1844...U.S. Naval Observatory headed by LT Matthew Fontaine Maury occupied its first permanent quarters. (Naval Historical Center)
1 October 1846...The British naturalist Charles Darwin, ten years after his voyage on the Beagle, began his study of barnacles, which was to appear in four volumes on living and fossil Cirripedes (barnacles). For his observations, he had a single lens microscope made to his own design. (Today in Science History)
1 October 1976...Hurricane Liza brought heavy rains and winds to Brazos Santiago, Mexico, causing a dam to break on the Cajoncito River, which killed 630 people as a wall of water crashed into the town of La Paz. (The Weather Doctor)
1 October 1893...The second great hurricane of the 1893 season hit the Mississippi Delta Region drowning more than 1000 people. (David Ludlum)
2 October 1836...The British naturalist Charles Darwin returned to Falmouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle, ending a five-year surveying expedition of the southern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, that included visits to Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, and New Zealand. The information and experience obtained from this voyage led Darwin to develop his historic work on the theory of evolution and the 1859 publication entitled, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. (The History Channel)
2 October 1867...A hurricane struck Galveston, TX with a storm tide that caused $1 million damage. (Intellicast)
2 October 1882...A major hurricane struck the Louisiana Delta with 100-mph winds and 12-ft storm tide which inundated the bayous resulting in 1500 deaths. (Intellicast)
2 October 1898...A hurricane struck the Weather Bureau (now National Weather Service) hurricane observation post at Carolina Beach, North Carolina and swept away the office's outhouse. The storm became known as the "Privy Hurricane". (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
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)