WEEKLY CLIMATE NEWS

23-27 March 2009

CURRENT CLIMATE MONITORING

Arctic sea ice reaches a seasonal maximum -- An image obtained from data collected by the AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System) sensor on NASA’s Aqua satellite a week before the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox shows the near maximum seasonal extent of the sea ice across the Arctic Ocean. [NASA Earth Observatory]
European satellite launched to measure gravity fields, oceans and climate -- Early last week, the European Space Agency launched its GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer) satellite, which will map the Earth's gravity field in detail as part of the Agency's the Living Planet Programme and provide information of global ocean currents and ultimately, climate variations from ocean surface topography. [EurekAlert!]. By the end of the week, the Agency announced that the satellite successfully completed its early orbit tests and some of the first data from the satellite having been received. [ESA]
Unique frozen earth movie shown for "Science on a Sphere" -- "Frozen", an unique "spherical" movie produced by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center showing Earth's changing ice and snow cover, will be shown on more than 30 spherical projection systems developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [NASA Earth Observatory]
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, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAAWatch]
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]

CLIMATE FORCING

Monitoring sun spots through a solar cycle -- Two sets of images obtained by sensors onboard NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft show sunspots on the Sun's surface and ultraviolet light radiating from the solar atmosphere in July 2000 near the peak of the last solar cycle and in March 2009 during an exceptionally quiet period near the minimum in the solar cycle. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Undersea volcano erupts -- A MODIS image obtained from NASA's Aqua satellite at the end of last week that shows haze from volcanic steam and aerosols emanating from an undersea volcanic eruption that occurred earlier in the week near the Tonga islands in the western South Pacific. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Turning out the lights -- An international event has been scheduled for this upcoming Saturday (28 March 2009), where households, businesses and municipalities are asked to turn off all non-essential electricity for one hour in an attempt to acknowledge that the large contribution of electricity usage to greenhouse gas emissions and to raise public awareness for action on climate change. This "Earth Hour", which is to be held from 8:30 to 9:30 PM local time on the last Saturday in March, was created by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund). Todate, 80 countries and 1500 cities have agreed to participate. The desire Earth Hour 2009 is to have one billion "votes" to show support for the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference. [Earth Hour Program]

CLIMATE AND THE BIOSPHERE

What if Montreal Protocol had not been enacted? In a study conducted by atmospheric chemists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Johns Hopkins University and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, a new simulation using the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model has shown the magnitude of the harmful effects upon terrestrial life that would have occurred by a lack of stratospheric ozone due to chlorofluorocarbons destruction if the nations of the world would not have ratified the Montreal Protocol in 1987. [NASA GSFC]
Nitrogen loss from forest depends upon tree species -- Scientists from Vassar College and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies recently reported that the amount of atmospheric nitrogen compounds from air pollution across the Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York State was related to the type of tree species that populated the region's forests, with some species more capable of reducing the levels of nitrogen compounds than others. [Soils Science Society of America]
Global feedback involves microscopic diatoms -- Research conducted at Michigan State University suggests that microscopic diatoms, a major component of plankton living in bodies of water ranging in size from small puddles to the largest oceans, currently sequester approximately one quarter of the atmospheric carbon dioxide, but increases in global temperatures associated with increased levels of carbon dioxide could result their ability to absorb and "fix" this greenhouse gas. [Michigan State University News]
Assessing the effects of climate-related changes on the Antarctic Peninsula -- Researchers participating in the National Science Foundation's LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) program recently reported that satellite data shows rapid changes in climate on the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding ocean waters have caused in microscopic phytoplankton at the base of the region's food chain, resulting in wholesale changes in the regional ecosystem. [EurekAlert!]

CLIMATE FORECASTS

Major Midwest flooding anticipated in Spring Outlook -- National Weather Service forecasters with the Climate Prediction Center issued a spring seasonal outlook for the three months of April, May and June 2009, in which they foresaw a major flood potential across the Upper Midwest, especially in the valleys of the Red River of the North and the Upper Mississippi River, possibly rivaling the record flooding in 1997. This flooding potential had been elevated by a deep snowpack and recent heavy rain across sections of the Midwest.
The spring outlook indicates that the Northwest could experience a better than even chance of having below average temperatures for the next three months, while sections of south Texas and neighboring regions of the Southwest would have a much good chance of having above average spring temperatures. Elsewhere across the coterminous US, the forecasters foresaw equal chances of having below or above average temperatures. The precipitation outlook for spring also shows that the Intermountain West and the southern Florida Peninsula have a much better than equal chances of experiencing dry conditions, while the rest of the lower 48 states have equal chances of below or above average precipitation.
These forecasters also issued a Seasonal Drought Outlook through June that persistence or intensification of drought across the Southwest, the southern Plains, the Southeast and the Eastern Seaboard, while a general improvement of the drought conditions could occur across scattered areas across the northern tier of states. [NOAA News]
Climate-induced sea level rise poses a threat to the Big Apple -- Researchers at Florida State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory report that their analysis of output statistics from ten climate models indicates that projected increases in global temperature could cause a rise in sea level along the coast of the Northeastern States at a rate nearly twice as fast as global sea levels, putting the New York City metropolitan area at great risk to damage from storm surge associated with hurricanes and winter storms. [EurekAlert!]
Global crisis foreseen in another decade -- The United Kingdom's chief governmental scientist recently warned that a "global crisis" could strike by 2030 due to widespread food, water and energy shortages associated with the demands of a growing world population and the effects of climate change. [BBC News]

PALEOCLIMATE RECONSTRUCTION

Antarctic ice sheet stability studied -- A scientific team from five nations recently reported their research on a 4100 foot sedimentary rock core obtained from beneath Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf during the McMurdo Ice Shelf (MIS) Project, the first project of the ANDRILL (ANtarctic geological DRILLing) research program. This record permitted scientists to reconstruct the climate record for the West Antarctic ice sheet back through the last 5 million years. Several climatologists noted that the ice has changed rapidly in the past, influenced primarily by ocean temperatures near Antarctica. [EurekAlert!] Their research indicates that a slight rise in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide would affect the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, with any substantial melting of the ice sheet causing a rise in global sea levels. [EurekAlert!]
Clues found for mysteries of early life -- Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center claim that their analysis of meteorite dust has led to discoveries involving organic type molecules such as amino acids that may provide clues as to how primitive life forms work, especially those created in space and brought to Earth by meteorite impacts. [NASA GSFC]

CLIMATE AND SOCIETY

Improving the nation's climate literacy -- The U.S. Climate Change Science Program has recently release a 13-page guide called Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science prepared by interagency group led by NOAA that is designed to help the public understand how climate influences them and how they influence climate. [NOAA News]
World Meteorology Day celebration -- Monday, 23 March 2009 is World Meteorology Day. This day is designated to celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 23 March 1950. The WMO is an agency within the United Nations. The theme of this year's World Meteorological Day for 2009 is "Weather, climate and the air we breathe." The scientific and socio-economic benefits derived by from expanded and wide-ranging observations made weather, climate and water by member nations will be recognized.
Economic gap could widen as global temperatures increase -- Using worldwide climate and economic data for the last half century, economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology warn that for a one Celsius increase in global temperature during a year reduces economic growth by an average of 1.1 percent in the world's poor countries, while little measurable effect could be detected in rich countries, ultimately leading to widened gap between rich and poor countries if the planet continues to warm. [MIT News]
Website for human dimensions of climate change -- An interagency effort within the US federal government that included NOAA, the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service, has resulted in a website called HD.gov (for HumanDimensions.gov) that provides users, such as natural resource managers, with information on the human dimensions on a variety of topics of interest such as climate change. [HD.gov]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

23 March 1912...Residents of Kansas City, MO began to dig out from a storm that produced 25 inches of snow in 24 hours . The snowfall total was nearly twice that of any other storm of modern record in Kansas City before or since that time. A record 40 inches of snow fell during the month of March that year, and the total for the winter season of 67 inches was also a record. By late February of that year, Kansas City had received just six inches of snow. Olathe, KS received 37 inches of snow in the snowstorm, establishing a single storm record for the state of Kansas. (23rd-24th) (Intellicast) (The Kansas City Weather Almanac) (The Weather Channel)
24 March 1993...What was to be called "the winter of the return of the big snows" continued to set records. Boston, MA had 8.6 inches of snow on this day to push its monthly total to 38.9 inches that set a new March monthly snowfall record. The old record was 33.0 inches set in 1916. Boston's seasonal snowfall total now stood at 81.7 inches, the third snowiest winter season on record. (Intellicast)
25 March 1914...Society Hill, SC was buried under 18 inches of snow, establishing a state record. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
25 March 1975...The town of Sandberg reported a wind gust to 101 mph, a record for the state of California. (The Weather Channel)
26 March 1913...The Ohio River Basin flood reached a peak. Ten-inch rains over a wide area of the Ohio River Basin inundated cities in Ohio, drowning 467 persons, and causing 147 million dollars damage. The Miami River at Dayton reached a level eight feet higher than ever before. The flood, caused by warm weather and heavy rains, was the second mostly deadly of record for the nation. (David Ludlum)
26 March 1930...A two-day snowfall of 19.2 inches at Chicago, IL was the greatest modern snowfall on the record books at Chicago. (Intellicast)
26 March 1954...The temperature at Allakaket, AK plunged to 69 degrees below zero, setting a record for the lowest temperature ever for March. (The Weather Channel)
26-28 March 2004…The first ever confirmed hurricane in the South Atlantic Ocean, named Catarina, struck the coast of the Brazilian states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul with heavy rains and winds, before dissipating over land late on the 28th. (The Weather Doctor)
27 March 1931...A blizzard that struck western Kansas and adjoining states was called the "worst since January 1888". The low temperature of 3 degrees below zero, which was reached during the blizzard, stands as the lowest temperature recorded so late in the season. (Intellicast)
27-28 March 1964...The most powerful earthquake in US history, the Good Friday Earthquake, rocked south central Alaska, killing 125 people and causing $311 million in property damage, especially to the city of Anchorage. The earthquake in Prince William Sound, which had a magnitude of 9.2 on the Richter scale, caused some landmasses to be thrust upward locally as much as 80 feet, while elsewhere land sank as much as 8 feet. This earthquake and submarine landslides also created a tsunami that produced extensive coastal damage. A landslide at Valdez Inlet in Alaska generated a tsunami that reached a height of 220 feet in the inlet. A major surge wave that was approximately 100 ft above low tide caused major damage to Whittier (where 13 died) and other coastal communities in Alaska. The first wave took more than 5 hours to reach the Hawaiian Islands where a 10-foot wave was detected, while a wave that was 14.8 feet above high tide level traveled along portions of the West Coast, reaching northern California 4 hours after the earthquake. Nearly 10,000 people jammed beaches at San Francisco to view the possible tsunami, but no high-amplitude waves hit those beaches. Tsunami damage reached Crescent City in northern California. Tens of thousands of aftershocks indicated that the region of faulting extended about 600 miles. The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center was established in the wake of this disaster, with a mission to warn Alaskan communities of the threat from tsunamis. [See the 1964 Prince William Sound Tsunami page from the University of Washington.] (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (US Coast Guard Historians Office)
27 March 1984...A strong storm system traversing northern Texas pulled very hot air northeastward into southern Texas. The temperature at Brownsville, TX soared to 106 degrees, which broke not only the monthly record high temperature but the all-time record as well. Cotulla, TX reached 108 degrees, equaling the March record for the U.S. (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)
28 March 1902...McMinnville, TN (elevation 900 feet) received 11.00 inches of precipitation, setting a 24-hour precipitation record for the Volunteer State. (National Climate Data Center).
28 March 1955…Florida's latest measurable snowfall occurred at Marianna when one inch of snow fell. Ground is whitened further south in Panama City. (The Weather Doctor)
29 March 1879...The temperature at Los Angeles, CA climbed to 99 degrees, which was 3 degrees higher than any other March day had ever reached in the city. (Intellicast)
29 March 1886...Atlanta, GA was drenched with a record 7.36 inches of rain in 24 hours. (The Weather Channel)
29 March 1920...Clear Spring, MD received 31 inches of snow in 24 hours to establish a state record. (Sandra and TI Richard Sanders - 1987)
29 March 1942...The "Palm Sunday snowstorm" buried Baltimore, MD under 22 inches of snow in 24 hours. This was the heaviest 24-hour snowfall ever for the city for the month of March as well as the heaviest snow for so late in the season. (Intellicast)
29 March 1945...Providence, RI hit 90 degrees to establish a March record for the New England area. (The Weather Channel)

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