WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DataStreme WES Week Twelve: 28 November-2 December 2005

Water in the News:

(Thurs.) Official hurricane season reviews -- NOAA officials held a press conference on Tuesday where the provided a list of records set during the 2005 official North Atlantic hurricane season that ended on Wednesday. They attributed the increased hurricane activity in the North Atlantic basin during the last several years to "naturally occurring multi-decadal climate variability." [NOAA News] and [NOAA Magazine]
(Thurs.) Oceanic conveyor may be weakening -- British measurements of deep water currents in the Atlantic suggest the conveyor flow at depth is weakening. Models expect this to mean colder temperatures in Europe. [CNN]
(Thurs.) Expect more drought in Sahel -- Two NOAA climate modeling groups predicted that the Sahel and southern Africa will become progressively drier over the century. Atlantic Ocean temperatures are expected to affect the regional rainfall patterns. [BBC News]
(Thurs.) Pollution of the Baltic Sea to be addressed -- Representatives from countries surrounding the Baltic Sea are to meet this week in Stockholm, Sweden to discuss plans aimed at fighting marine pollution that has contaminated the Baltic Sea. [ENN]
(Thurs.) Water detected on Mars -- The Mars Express spacecrafts's radar appears to have detected water ice 1 km below Mars' surface. [BBC News]
(Thurs.) Supreme Court may get Missouri River case -- North and South Dakota will ask the Supreme Court to decide whether shipping or fishing and recreation interests are paramount in determining water levels. [US Water News]
(Tues.) Seasonal fluctuations in lake monitored from space -- Monitors onboard the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite have been monitoring the hydrological cycle of Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater body that undergoes a threefold change in area annually. [ESA]
(Tues.) Seawater could help save Venice from flooding -- A team of engineers and geologists are considering a plan that would inject seawater nearly 2300 feet into the ground under Venice, Italy to raise the city by at least one foot, thereby reducing the flooding and tidal action in the historic city. [US Water News Online]
(Tues.) Swan sanctuary devastated -- A team of investigators led by the World Wildlife Fund claims that a recently opened pulp mill in Chile has contaminated the wetlands in a world-renowned nature sanctuary, effectively devastating the population of black-necked swans that nest there. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Mask designed to mimic fish gills -- A Massachusetts engineering company is collaborating with Case Western Reserve University in developing a set of artificial gills that involve a polymer membrane mask to obtain dissolved oxygen in water in much the same way as fish breathe, thereby permitting swimming underwater for extended time intervals. [US Water News Online]
(Tues.) New Great Lakes restoration plan appears scuttled -- A report by the US Environmental Protection Agency recommends that the $20 billion plan to restore coastal wetlands, reduce pollution and combat invasive species that was proposed by President Bush should not be funded until existing programs are analyzed. [ENN]
Recent tropical storm updates:
- The second tropical storm within the last week, Tropical Storm Delta, the 25th named tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed over the central Atlantic Ocean southwest of the Azores on Wednesday evening. By Sunday morning, the system was accelerating to the northeast and could affect the Canary Islands. [USA Today]
- Tropical Storm Gamma, the 24th named tropical cyclone that formed over the Caribbean on 16 November 2005, finally dissipated late Sunday, 18 November, but not before bringing torrential rain to Central America, which resulted in the loss of at least 32 lives. [USA Today] Imagery from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite indicated that more than 20 inches of rain fell across the north coast of Honduras between 14-21 November 2005. [NASA Earth Observatory]
The 2005 hurricane seasons reviewed -- Although tropical storms and hurricanes could continue to form, the official 2005 hurricane season in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific will end this upcoming Wednesday, 30 November 2005. Numerous long-standing records have been broken by the most active hurricane season in the North Atlantic in over 150 years of record keeping. [AMS DataStreme Atmosphere]
Improvements in hurricane forecasting foreseen -- Officials with the National Hurricane Center, NOAA's Hurricane Research Division and the National Weather Service's Environmental Modeling Center recently announced that a new higher resolution hurricane forecast model will be put into operation during the next hurricane season. This model, along with additional improvements in data acquisition and computer processing during subsequent seasons are hoped to result in improved hurricane forecasts. [USA Today]
Public looks to Internet for hurricane news -- An official at the Pew Internet and American Life Project released the results of a survey indicating that more than half the Internet users across the US visited the websites of traditional American news organizations for news and information on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; the pollsters were surprised that a relatively large (14 percent) of American users went to websites maintained by international news organizations for their hurricane news. [USA Today]
Skating on thin ice proves deadly -- A nine-year old girl who was skating on a recently-frozen pond near Sheboygan, WI and her father who attempted to rescue her both died Friday after falling through the thin ice. In a separate accident approximately 10 miles distant, an 11-year old boy died after going through the ice with an all-terrain vehicle. [CNN]
India experiences deadly floods -- Floods from persistent heavy rains across the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India swept away two crowded buses last Friday, resulting in the deaths of at least 60 people. [USA Today]
Early season snowstorm causes problems in northwest Europe -- Snow fell across the British Isles, France and Germany at the end of last week, resulting in at least two deaths due to hypothermia, closed schools and created major travel snarls. The snow, coupled with outlooks for a cold winter have led bookmakers to slash their odds for a white Christmas across Britain. [USA Today]
Major pollution event occurs in China -- An explosion at a chemical plant near the city of Harbin in northeast China on 13 November 2005 spread a toxic slick of benzene into the rivers that served as the water supply for nearly 9 million people in the region.
- The Harbin city government announced that it was cutting off water supply for four days to check for contamination caused by the chemical plant explosion. [ENN]
- The largest oil company in China has apologized for polluting Harbin's water supply. [ENN]
- China and Russia set up a pollution hotline to monitor the movement of the toxic pollutants flowing downstream toward Russia from near Harbin in China. [ENN]
- Exposure to the benzene and nitrobenzene from the toxic spill could pose a cancer risk [The New Scientist]
- Area hospitals were alerted and placed on standby to treat victims from the contamination of the water supplies. [ENN]
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]
Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Change in the Earth System

In 1881, Henri Louis Le Chátelier (1850-1936) formulated a general law of chemistry: "If a system at equilibrium is subjected to a stress, the equilibrium will shift in an attempt to reduce the stress." This reasoning provides insight into the behavior of systems. The interaction of subsystems within the Earth system involves the transfer of mass and energy. A stress or disturbance of a subsystem will thus affect the other subsystems to varying degrees.

The final week of the course is an appropriate occasion for us to revisit and reflect on the paradigm that guided our investigation of water in the Earth system and to consider how this system will react to stresses resulting from both natural and human disturbances.

The global water cycle encompasses the flow of water, energy, and water-borne materials, as well as their interactions with organisms in the Earth system. Water's unique combination of physical and chemical properties, its co-existence as vapor, liquid, and solid within the temperature and pressure ranges found on Earth, and its role as an essential ingredient of life, places it center stage in the interactive functioning of the planet's sub-systems. As the principal atmospheric greenhouse gas, water vapor brings temperatures into the range required for life on Earth. Powered by the sun, the water cycle couples the living and non-living components of Earth into an evolving system. Human activity is an integral and inseparable part of the water cycle, impacting and impacted by both the quantity and quality of water.

The burning of fossil fuels appears to be a major contributor to the increased amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere. Le Chátelier would describe this anthropogenic increase as a stress on the system. By altering the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, human activity may be modifying climate on a global scale. The Earth system and its various interdependent subsystems may respond to this disturbance by shifting to a new climate state. The interdependency of Earth's various subsystems and biogeochemical cycles implies that such a shift will have implications for the distribution of water within the global water cycle and for fresh water resources (e.g., changes in glacial ice cover, sea level, drought frequency).

Concept of the Week: Questions

After completing DataStreme WES, I now understand the global water cycle as a flow of [(mass) (energy) (both mass and energy)].
After completing DataStreme WES, I now understand that human activity [(may) (may not)] impact the Earth system with implications for the water cycle and water resources.

Historical Events:

28 November 1921...New England was in the midst of a four day icestorm, their worst of record. Ice was more than three inches thick in many places following the storm, and property damage was in the millions of dollars. Northern New England received heavy snow with more than two feet reported in some areas. Overnight freezing rains continued through the day at Worcester, MA while the wind increased to a gale. Streets become impassable even on foot, and whole towns were plunged into darkness without communication. The storm caused $20 million damage to power lines, telephone lines and trees. (David Ludlum)
28 November 1960...A severe storm produced waves 20 to 40 feet high on Lake Superior. Duluth, MN was buried under a foot of snow, and clocked wind gusts to 73 mph. The northern shore of Lake Superior was flooded, and property along the shore was battered. Thousands of cords of pulpwood were washed into Lake Superior, and up to three feet of water flooded the main street of Grand Marais. Thunder accompanied the "nor'easter". (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
28-29 November 1995...Rivers in western Washington State experienced near-record flooding. In Snohomish County, 2000 students could not reach school because of flooded roads. In Duvall and Carnation, flooded roads stranded 15,000 people. (Accord Weather Calendar)
2 December 1959...Malpasset Dam collapsed destroying the French Riviera town of Fréjus, killing 412 people. (Infoplease.com)
2 December 1972...The largest sinkhole in the US, "December Giant," formed in Alabama.
3-10 December 1926...Record rain fell on Yuma, AZ over a week period. On the 4^th 1.10 inches of rain fell, and by the 10^th a total of 4.43 inches had fallen, to set an all-time December monthly record. The mean annual precipitation for Yuma is only 3.38 inches. (Accord Weather Calendar)
3 December 1952...A remarkable display of sea smoke was seen in Hong Kong harbor. The sea-smoke, induced by a strong surge of arctic air, poured from the water of Kowloon Bay from 8 AM to 9:30 AM. The air temperature near the sea wall was 44 degrees. (Accord Weather Calendar)
3 December 1982...Big Fork, AR received 14.06 inches of rain, setting a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for the state. (NCDC)
4 December 1786...The first of two great early December storms began. The storm produced 18 inches of snow at Morristown, NJ, and twenty inches of snow at New Haven, CT. It also resulted in high seas at Nantucket which did great damage. (David Ludlum)
4 December 1964...One of the worst ice storms on record was in progress across Massachusetts and eastern New York. Ice accretions reached 1.5 inches in some places. Well over 80,000 homes lost power. Some homes did not have power for 5 days. (Intellicast)
4-13 December 1991...Tropical Cyclone Val with gusts to 150 mph caused $700 million damage. Seventeen deaths were reported in American and Western Samoa, with 95 percent of the housed in Savaii either destroyed or badly damaged. Savaii was essentially hit twice by Val as the system completed a loop on the 8^th. (Accord Weather Calendar)
4 December 2003...A tropical depression became Tropical Storm Odette in the Caribbean well south of Kingston, Jamaica, becoming the first December tropical storm of record to form in the Caribbean Sea. Odette made landfall on near Cabo Falso, Dominican Republic on 6 December, causing eight deaths and destroying 35 percent of the banana crop. (Accord Weather Calendar)