Weekly Ocean News

WEEK FIVE: 29 September-3 October 2008

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics --- During the past week:
- A large low pressure area of low pressure formed near Puerto Rico early last week and traveled across the Dominican Republic before organizing into Tropical Storm Kyle, the eleventh named tropical cyclone of the 2008 North Atlantic hurricane season in midweek. By late Saturday, this system intensified into a hurricane as it traveled northward across the western North Atlantic well offshore of the North Carolina coast. By Sunday, this category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale was moving rapidly to the north-northeast toward the southern coast of Nova Scotia. Additional information and satellite images for Hurricane Kyle can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
- In the western North Pacific, Typhoon Jangmi formed early last week over the Philippine Sea and traveled toward the northwest, intensifying to a category 4 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. On Monday (local time), this typhoon made landfall on northern Taiwan. Additional information and satellite images are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  Earlier last week, Typhoon Hagupit, which had become a category 4 typhoon earlier, made landfall along the southern China coast. An image obtained from the scatterometer on NASA’s QuikSCAT satellite shows the speed and direction of the near surface winds surrounding the central eye of Typhoon Hagupit before it made landfall along the coast of mainland China. [NASA Earth Observatory] Additional images and information on Typhoon Hagupit can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page .
Marine debris strategies addressed -- NOAA, the US Environmental Protection Agency along with nine other federal agencies recently completed an interagency report that provides guidance for strategies to be used by these agencies and the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee in the prevention and reduction of marine debris [NOAA News]
Chesapeake Bay blue crab disaster reported -- After consultation with the NOAA's Fisheries Service, the Secretary of the US Department of Commerce recently declared that the decline in the harvest of soft shell and peeler blue crabs in Chesapeake Bay as being a commercial fishery failure, with the declaration representing a step to making those who harvest the crabs and the communities along the Bay eligible for economic assistance. [NOAA News]
Another "smart buoy" is deployed -- The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office, in partnership with the Nauticus Museum in Norfolk, VA, recently deploy a "smart buoy" in the Elizabeth River near downtown Norfolk along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail to observe the river's changing conditions. This moored buoy, which makes meteorological, oceanographic and water-quality observations and transmits these data wirelessly in near-real time, is the sixth in NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System and fittingly coincides with the 400th anniversary of Captain John Smith's exploration of the Elizabeth River in September 1608. [NOAA News]
The Ocean reaches the Mall -- NOAA has collaborated with the Smithsonian Institution to produce the recently opened exhibit in the Sant Ocean Hall that explores the wonders and mysteries of the global oceans in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Science On A Sphere™ and the Ocean Today Kiosk are two major components of the exhibit. [NOAA News]
Monitoring the seasonal changes in Arctic sea ice extent -- Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center have produced a plot of the seasonal variation of the extent of Arctic sea ice showing that as of mid September 2008, the ice had shrunk to its minimum summer size, which is the second smallest areal extent since the beginning of satellite surveillance of the Arctic ice in 1979. [NASA Earth Observatory]
African dust seen over Mediterranean -- An image obtained from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite captures the plume of dust being carried northward by winds from the arid areas of northern Egypt and into a large eddy over the Mediterranean Sea last week. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Wetlands restoration will not solve all Gulf Coast problems -- A researcher from Western Carolina University claims that relying upon wetlands restoration projects along the Louisiana Gulf Coast to serve as protection of the region's infrastructure from coastal storm systems such as hurricanes may provide "false hope" and prevent proper planning in the affected communities. [GSA]
An inundation early warning system strengthened -- The Center for Maritime Systems at New Jersey's Stevens Institute of Technology has begun a project designed to strengthen the Early Warning System for Inundations in the Dominican Republic, which would involve the use of modern equipment designed to improve the accuracy of hurricane detection and prevent flooding of the island. [EurekAlert!]
Flooding seen in Haiti -- An image of northeastern Haiti obtained from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra satellite in mid-September 2008 shows the massive flooding following torrential rains from three named tropical cyclones (Gustav, Hanna, and Ike); comparison can be made with an image of the region from the same sensor made in August 2001 when the region was dry. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Climate may have contributed to a lack of oxygen in Eastern Mediterranean bottom-water --Researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands have found an organic-rich sediment bed on the floor of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, which indicates a 4000-year period when the bottom-water lacked oxygen between 9800 and 5700 years ago, due possibly to a wet climate interval. [Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research]
Global climate change could significantly impact coastal Florida -- Studies by researchers at Florida State University and Florida Atlantic University indicate that the projected changes in climate could have significant impacts upon Florida's coastline and its economy because of rises in sea level, and hurricane storm surges. One of the reports recommends the adoption of a series of policy programs by the Sunshine State that would address these impacts. [EurekAlert!]
Seawater warmed by ocean floor geysers -- An international team of American, Canadian and German scientists report that the movement of warmed seawater from cracks and crevices along the floor of the Pacific Ocean off the Costa Rican coast is greater than off the mid-ocean volcanic ridges. [EurekAlert!]
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, 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, including 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

29 September 1959...Hurricane Gracie made landfall near Beaufort, SC with sustained winds of 97 mph and a peak gust of 138 mph. Ten people were killed in South Carolina and Georgia. As the weakening storm moved through Virginia on the 30th, the storm spawned an F3 tornado at Ivy, VA, which killed 11 people. On the same day, a storm produced 28 inches of snow in Colorado Springs, CO. (David Ludlum)
30 September 1932...Tropical cyclone rainfall of 4.38 inches at Tehachapi in southern California over 7 hours caused flash floods on Agua Caliente and Tehachapi Creeks resulting in 15 deaths. (The Weather Doctor)
30 September 1954...The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, is commissioned by the U.S. Navy. In addition to breaking numerous submarine travel records to that time, the Nautilus made the first voyage under the Arctic sea ice at the geographic North Pole in August 1958, passing from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean basins. The Nautilus was decommissioned on 3 March 1980 and is currently on display at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, CT. (The History Channel)
30 September 1997...Omega Navigation Station Hawaii ceased operation, coinciding with the end of worldwide Omega transmissions. (USCG Historian's Office)
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)