Weekly Ocean News

WEEK EIGHT: 22-26 October 2012

For Your Information

Opportunity for Teachers: The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Teacher at Sea 2013 Field Season program is now accepting applications until the end of business on 31 October 2012. Gain your "sea legs" and first-hand experience in one-week to one-month voyages. For more information, or to apply, see http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov.
Marine and tropical weather statements -- This week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth provides identifies those National Weather Service Forecast Centers that monitor the weather, prepare weather forecasts, and issue event-specific warnings or advisories for marine and coastal interests. The terminology used to identify the particular warnings, watches and advisories for marine interests and for tropical weather events is also discussed.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- During the last week, several tropical cyclones were found across the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans in the Northern Hemisphere and in the South Indian Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere:

In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Rafael intensified to become the ninth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic season early last week as it traveled in a generally northward direction across the western North Atlantic well to the east of the Bahamas. By midweek, Hurricane Rafael, a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, passed to the east of Bermuda. could intensify to a minimal hurricane by early Monday evening. As of midweek, Rafael had lost its tropical characteristics to become a midlatitude system that merged with a cold front over the extratropical North Atlantic Additional information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Rafael can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Paul intensified into the tenth hurricane of the 2012 eastern Pacific season early last week as it traveled northward off the western coast of Mexico. Last Monday, Hurricane Paul intensified rapidly from a category one hurricane to a major category three hurricane as maximum sustained surface winds to nearly 120 mph. However, this hurricane weakened rapidly within 24 hours. After brushing along the coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, Paul weakened to a tropical storm and then turned to the travel to the northwest. As it traveled, it weakened to a tropical depression and finally a remnant low pressure center by midweek. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Paul.
In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Prapiroon curved to the northeast as it traversed the waters near Okinawa, Japan early last week. This typhoon, which had become a major category 3 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale during the previous week, weakened to a tropical storm as it passed to the south of the main Japanese islands. Near the end of the week, lost its tropical characteristics and became a large extratropical or midlatitude storm. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Typhoon Prapiroon along with satellite imagery.
Tropical Storm Maria traveled across the western North Pacific well to the east of the Asian coast last week. Early in the week, it moved toward the northwest, then to the north and finally toward the northeast. By late in the week, Maria had weakened and was downgraded to a tropical depression before dissipating to the north-northwest of Wake Island. See the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information on Tropical Storm Maria.
In the South Indian Ocean basin of the Southern Hemisphere, category-3 Cyclone Anais (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) weakened as it traveled to the southwest across the central South Indian Ocean early last week. By midweek, this first named tropical cyclone of the new season in this basin had weakened to a tropical storm and then dissipated to the north-northeast of La Reunion Island. Additional information and satellite images on Cyclone Anais appear on the NASA Hurricane Page.

Review of September 2012 global temperatures -- Preliminary data analyzed by scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center indicated that the global combined land and ocean average surface temperature for the September 2012 was 0.67 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average (1901-2000) for the month. Therefore, last month's global combined temperature tied September 2005 for the highest September temperature since global temperature records began in 1880. When considered separately, the monthly temperatures of the land surface for this recently concluded month resulted in the third highest September land surface temperature on record, while September monthly average temperature over the global oceans tied September 1997 for the second highest September ocean temperature in 133 years.
Weak El Niño conditions may have contributed to the above average ocean temperatures. Furthermore, when considering the combined land-ocean global temperature for the year to date, the temperature was the eight highest nine-month global temperature since 1880. The weakening of the La Niña at the start of the year, followed by ENSO-neutral conditions (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) and then weak El Niño conditions contributed to above average temperatures, especially over the oceans, which had the tenth warmest nine-month start to a calendar year on record. [NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate] Another version of the global temperature anomaly map for September 2012 is available. NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab .
New facility centralizes disaster planning and response expertise for the Gulf region -- Early last week, NOAA, state and local officials attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony that officially opened NOAA's new Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center in Mobile, AL that will serve as a central coordination point for federal, state and local emergency managers and partners who rely on NOAA's scientific support to make decisions to protect and restore the Gulf Coast's communities, economies, and valuable natural resources. This new facility has been built to built to the Silver Certification standards of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the US Green Building Council. [NOAA News]
Teacher at Sea participates in Alaskan pollock acoustic survey -- One of NOAA's Teachers at Sea participants, a biology and environmental science teacher from Boston, Massachusetts, helped conduct an Alaska pollock acoustic survey with scientists onboard the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in the waters of the Bering Sea. The Alaska pollock is a white fish often consumed as fish sticks. [NOAA Fisheries Service]
Nation's new weather and climate prediction center opens -- Early last week, NOAA officials, together with federal and state legislators and other officials from Maryland, officially opened NOAA's new Center for Weather and Climate Prediction on University of Maryland grounds in College Park, MD. This facility will house more than 800 employees of NOAA's Center for Weather and Climate Prediction who provide the nation with a broad range of environmental services including monitoring and forecasting weather and ocean conditions. The NOAA scientists will also be collaborating with faculty and students from the University of Maryland and other academic institutions. [NOAA News]
Mystery eye washes up on Florida beach -- Over a week ago, a giant eyeball washed up on a South Florida beach. Some marine biology experts claimed that this eyeball came from a deep sea squid or a swordfish. [newsobserver.com] [Editor's note: Special thanks goes to Terri Kirby Hathaway, LIT Leader and Marine Education Specialist for the North Carolina Sea Grant Program in Manteo, NC, for forwarding this article. EJH]
Arctic research vessel launched -- The National Science Foundation , in cooperation the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and the ship-builder, Marinette Marine Corporation recently launched a "next-generation" global class research vessel called the R/V Sikuliaq at the builder's Wisconsin shipyard. The University of Alaska's School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences will operate the 261-foot long ship in the waters around Alaska, from its home part in Seward, AK. The ship, which has a hull designed to navigate through ice-covered waters, will be outfitted with the latest technology for marine research and navigation. [National Science Foundation News]
New supercomputing center opens for environmental sciences -- Last week, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) opened its NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne, WY that contains a 1.5-petaflop IBM supercomputer known as "Yellowstone," one of the world's most powerful supercomputers dedicated to the geosciences. Some of the first projects to be run on Yellowstone will involve research directed at meteorological, oceanographic and climatological issues. At least ten percent of the power provided to the computer facility will be wind energy obtained from the nearby Happy Jack Wind Farm. [NCAR/UCAR AtmosNews]
Reasons for the decline in coastal salt marshes proposed -- A scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA and her colleagues believe that the reason for the disintegration and death of salt marshes along the US Atlantic Seaboard has been due to then increase in the amount of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, in coastal waters. The nitrogen and phosphorus come from septic and sewer systems and lawn fertilizers. [National Science Foundation News]
Assessing the possibility of a hurricane striking southern California -- In a recent interview, Bill Patzert, an oceanographer and climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory JPL was asked about the prospects for future tropical cyclones, such as hurricanes and tropical storms, in Southern California. He discussed the reasons why southern California has had few tropical cyclones and also identified some of the historical tropical systems that have reached the region. [NASA Earth]
Tracking the "globe-trotting" gray whales -- From research conducted in the waters surrounding an island in the North Pacific off Far East Russia, a marine mammal biologist at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center and his colleagues have discovered that the critically endangered Western North Pacific population of gray whales routinely cross the Pacific to winter off the North American coast. [NOAA National Fisheries Service]
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: Loss of Louisiana's Coast

According to the Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force, Louisiana has been losing its coastal wetlands (bayous, marshes, and swamps) to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate of about 65 to 100 square km (25 to 38 square mi) per year for the past several decades. This loss adversely affects fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and makes the coastal zone more vulnerable to storm surges such as that produced by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Since the early 1930s, the state's coastal wetlands have shrunk by an area equivalent to the state of Delaware. According to USGS estimates, an additional 1800 square km (700 square mi) could be lost by mid-century. The price tag for reversing this trend, restoring some marshes, and protecting the remaining 15,000 square km (5800 square mi) of wetlands could top $14 billion and take decades to complete. Many people argue that the value of Louisiana's coastal wetlands is well worth the expense.

As much as 75% of the fish and other marine life in the northern Gulf of Mexico depend on Louisiana's coastal wetlands. The wetlands are a nursery for commercially important catches of shrimp, crawfish, blue crab, and oysters. It is a food source for larger fish including yellow fin tuna, red snapper, and swordfish. In 2003, about three-quarters of the nation's fish and shellfish catch by weight came from Louisiana's waters. In addition, the wetlands are a stopover for millions of birds migrating between North and Central/South America. Furthermore, wetlands and associated barrier islands protect the ports, buildings, and other coastal zone structures from storm surges. Wetlands are particularly important in buffering the levees surrounding New Orleans, much of which is below sea level.

Many factors contribute to the loss of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Thousands of kilometers of pipelines transporting oil and natural gas through the marshes plus the extensive network of navigation channels allow saltwater to intrude the wetlands. Increased salinity of the originally fresh or brackish waters kill wetland grasses, shrubs, and other vegetation that anchor soil in place. The canals also allow tidal currents to flow farther inland, accelerating erosion of wetland soils. The most important factor, however, is the consequence of flood control structures (levees) constructed along the banks of the Mississippi River. Levees constrict the flow of the river so that waters and suspended sediment discharge rapidly into the Gulf. Deprived of a continuous input of sediments and vegetation-supporting nutrients, existing sediments compact, wetlands subside and Gulf waters invade the wetlands. With the anticipated continued rise in sea level due to global climate change (discussed in Chapter 12 of your textbook), erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetland may accelerate in the future.

Plans to reverse the loss of Louisiana's coastal wetlands (the Coast 2005 plan and the Louisiana Coastal Area plan) seek to restore the structure and function of coastal wetlands. One proposal is to breach some levees along the lower Mississippi. This partial diversion of the Mississippi would increase the supply of sediments to the wetlands. Closing or installing locks on some navigation canals would reduce saltwater intrusion. In addition, dredged sediment would be used to re-build wetlands and restore barrier islands.

Concept of the Week: Questions

The most important factor contributing to erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetlands is [(saltwater intrusion)(levees along the banks of the Mississippi River)].
Global climate change that is accompanied by a rise in sea level is likely to [(accelerate)(have no effect on)] the rate of erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetlands.

Historical Events:

22 October 1988...A "nor'easter" swept across the coast of New England. Winds gusted to 75 mph, and large waves and high tides caused extensive shoreline flooding. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
23-24 October 1918...The Canadian steamship Princess Sophia carrying miners from the Yukon and Alaska became stranded on Vanderbilt Reef along coastal British Columbia. A strong northerly gale hampered rescue attempts, and the next day, the ship sank with the loss of the 268 passengers and 75 crewmen onboard. (The Weather Doctor)
25 October 1859...The Royal Charter Storm, named after the loss of the fully rigged ship Royal Charter off the coast of Anglesey, England, drowned about 500 people, along with the loss of gold bullion. The ship was one of over 200 vessels wrecked between 21 October and 2 November, with the loss of around 800 lives. This tragedy led to the introduction of gale warnings in June 1860. (The Weather Doctor)
25 October 1941...South Greenland Patrol expanded to include three cutters of the Northeast Greenland Patrol and form the Greenland Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)
25-26 October 1980...The combination of unusually high tides and southeasterly winds gusting to 75 mph generated waves with heights to 25 ft, resulting in serious flooding, beach erosion and sea wall damage along the Maine coast. Wind damage was considerable and as many as 100,000 homes were without power for up to 40 hrs. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
27 October 1728...Captain James Cook, the famed British naval officer who was one of the first of the scientific navigators, was born on this date. Captain Cook surveyed the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland before making three expeditions into the Pacific Ocean where he became the first Englishman to explore previously uncharted locations. On his various voyages, he conducted astronomical observations and his ship's botanist studied the flora and fauna that were collected. (Today in Science History)
28 October 1492...The famous Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus, landed on Cuba. (Wikipedia)
28 October 1991...Typhoon Thelma devastated the Philippines. Reports indicated that 6000 people died by catastrophic events related to the storm including dam failure, landslides, and extensive flash flooding. The greatest number of casualties occurred on Leyte Island where an 8-ft storm surge struck Ormoc, accounting for over 3000 fatalities. (The Weather Doctor)