Weekly Ocean News

WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

WEEK THREE: 19-23 September 2011

For Your Information

The Autumnal Equinox -- The Autumnal Equinox will occur early this Friday morning (officially at 0905Z, 23 September 2011 or 5:05 AM EDT or 4:05 AM CDT, etc.). At that time the noontime sun will appear directly above the equator, representing one of the two times during the year for such an occurrence, with the other being at the vernal equinox in March. The term "equinox" arises from the fact that this time of year represents "equal night" and equal day essentially everywhere. Within the subsequent several days, the length of daylight will become noticeably shorter. This decrease in daylight will continue for another three months to the winter solstice during the early morning hours of Thursday, 22 December 2011.
Editor's note: John White, a meteorologist from North Carolina involved with the AMS Education program, reported that the geosynchronous (or geostationary) satellites make an "satellite eclipse" of the sun near the spring and autumnal equinoxes because of their equatorial orbit, such that these satellites pass through the earth's shadow and the satellite is powered down when the solar array does not receive sufficient sunlight. [For more information, consult NWS Southern Region GOES Satellite FAQ] EJH.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics -- The tropical ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere had relatively little tropical cyclone activity, considering that the surface waters are warm and that the normal peak in the North Atlantic hurricane season was one week ago.

Tropical Storm Maria spent most of last week traveling across the western North Atlantic passing to the north of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, then to the east and north of the Bahamas before passing to the west of Bermuda late last week. After passing Bermuda, Maria intensified to become the fourth hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, racing to the northeast toward southeastern Newfoundland. By late Friday, Hurricane Maria lost its tropical characteristics and became a "post-tropical cyclone" as it passed across Newfoundland [USA Today]. Additional information on Hurricane Maria including satellite imagery appears in the NASA Hurricane Page.
Tropical Storm Nate made landfall along the Mexican coast one week ago Sunday after developing and moving westward across the Bay of Campeche in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. By late Sunday night (11 Sep 2011), Nate had weakened to a remnant low-pressure system over the mountains of Mexico. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Nate.
In the western North Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Roke formed early last week from a tropical depression that had been moving northeastward over the waters of the western tropical North Pacific between the Philippines and the Northern Mariana Islands. After becoming a tropical storm, Roke turned course and headed toward the west-northwest. By this just concluded weekend, Tropical Storm Roke had intensified as it approached Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands northeast of Taiwan. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Tropical Storm Roke.
A tropical depression that eventually would become Typhoon Sonca formed last week over the western North Pacific near the Northern Mariana Islands. Intensifying into a tropical storm, Sonca traveled to the west and west-northwest during the latter part of the week, before becoming the seventh typhoon of 2011 in the western North Pacific late Saturday (local time). Turning to the north, Typhoon Sonca continued to intensify and had become a category 2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale by late Sunday as it traveled north toward the waters east of Honshu, Japan's main island. Additional information, including satellite imagery on Typhoon Sonca, can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.

Review of August and boreal summer 2011 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 August 2011 was nearly one Fahrenheit degree above the 20th-century average for the month. Last month's global average temperature tied for the eighth highest August monthly temperature since global temperature records began in 1880. When considered separately, the monthly temperature of the land surface for this recently concluded month was the second highest August temperature on record, while the ocean temperature for the month was the twelfth highest. The researchers also noted that the global land and ocean average temperature for the three-months of June, July and August (meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere) was the seventh highest for that three-month period since 1880. [NOAA News]

Summer's Arctic sea ice extent reaches a minimum -- Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center report that as of mid September, the extent of Arctic sea ice appears to have reached a minimum for the 2011 summer season. According to the researchers, last week's areal extent of the Arctic sea ice represents the second smallest since routine satellite surveillance commenced in 1979. [University of Colorado] Data and graphs are available. [National Snow and Ice Data Center]

Aid provided for response to Long Island's toxic algal bloom -- NOAA recently awarded funds to scientists at the State University of York‘s Stony Brook campus in an effort to document the incidence of a bloom of harmful algae off Long Island’s south shore, study its effects on the area’s shellfish, and test a method that could control the bloom. [NOAA News]

Help provided for new environmental enforcement cases -- Recently, NOAA officials announced that the agency will refer newly docketed law enforcement cases involving federal natural resource statutes (the Clean Water Act and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act) to administrative law judges from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). [NOAA News]

Recommendations to encourage Iceland to change its whaling policy -- In a report submitted to the US Congress late last week, President Obama concurred with the recommendations made by his Secretary of Commerce that would direct federal agencies to take actions designed to encourage Iceland to change its whaling policy. [NOAA News]

NOAA’s spill response team nominated for national honors -- An announcement was made last week that NOAA scientist Amy Merten and her team are one of four finalists for the Samuel J. Heyman Partnership for Public Service to America Medal for Homeland Security because of their efforts in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. They refined and expanded the capability of an innovative tool called NOAA’s Environmental Response Management Application or ERMA that provided responders and decision makers with quick access to spill data in a secure and user-friendly format. [NOAA News]

Coral expert wins a prestigious award-- During this past week, Joan Kleypas, a marine ecologist and geologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research was named a recipient of the prestigious Heinz Award for her pioneering research into the effects of climate change on coral reefs. [UCAR/NCAR News]

Projected sea level rise could take economic toll on California coast -- Economists at San Francisco State University recently conducted a state-commissioned study that indicates that five California beachfront communities could suffer substantial economic losses caused by the projected sea level rise in the next century. [SF State News]

Preparation made for multi-year airborne investigation of hurricanes -- A group of scientists are at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center preparing the agency's Global Hawk remotely operated unmanned aircraft for NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) investigation that will commence next year. This multi-year study will collect weather data collected by instruments onboard the Global Hawk to determine the processes underlying hurricane formation and intensity change over the Atlantic Ocean basin. [NASA Dryden Flight Research Center]

Europeans foresee major threats due to changing marine environments -- Last week, Project CLAMER (Climate Change and European Marine Ecosystem Research) released the results of a public poll and a compilation of academic papers at summary conference in Brussels, Belgium. The poll indicates that Europeans are concerned about sea-level rise and coastal erosion because changing climate. Ultimately, they will face greater risk of illness, property damage and job losses because of the climate-induced changes on the surrounding oceans. Research by scientists at 17 European marine institutes is concerned with the physical, chemical and biological marine changes that could occur. [EurekAlert!]

Classic origins of life experiment revisited -- Using modern techniques, a team of scientists including those from the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory have been analyzing samples that have been recently from the classic series of experiments performed by Stanley Miller in the 1950s that initially demonstrated that organic compounds could be created in an environment similar to primordial Earth. The new findings indicate the possible importance of volcanoes and sulfur in the formation of amino acids, and possibly life, on Earth. [Carnegie Institution for Science]

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, 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: Sea Water Salinity and Carbon Dioxide

In view of the contemporary concern regarding global climate change, scientists are studying the various factors that govern the ocean's ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are on the rise primarily because of the burning of fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil, natural gas). Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas (an atmospheric gas that absorbs and radiates infrared radiation) so that higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be contributing to global warming. The ocean's role in regulating the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide depends on the temperature, salinity, and biological components of surface waters.

As noted in Chapter 3 of your textbook, gases are more soluble in cold seawater than warm seawater. Hence, changes in sea surface temperature affect the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide. As noted in Chapter 1 of your textbook, photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen. And through cellular respiration, all organisms release carbon dioxide. What about the effects of changes in salinity on the ocean's uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Research from the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii provides some insight on this question.

Since the late 1980s, scientists have been recording ocean conditions at a site (dubbed ALOHA) about 100 km (62 mi) north of Oahu. In 2003, David M. Karl, a biogeochemist at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, reported a decline in the rate at which surface ocean waters were absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact, in 2001, the rate of CO₂ uptake was only about 15% of what it was in 1989. Why the change in CO₂ uptake? In this region of the Pacific north of Hawaii, sea surface temperatures showed no significant change during the period of observation but precipitation decreased and evaporation increased. Less precipitation coupled with higher rates of evaporation caused the surface water salinity at ALOHA to increase by about 1%. Increasing salinity inhibits water's ability to absorb gases including carbon dioxide. Karl and his colleagues attribute 40% of the decline in the ocean's CO₂ uptake to the saltier waters. The balance of the decline may be due to changes in biological productivity or ocean mixing

Concept of the Week: Questions

With rising sea surface temperatures, the rate of evaporation of sea water [(increases)(decreases)].
With increasing salinity and constant temperature, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide that is taken up by ocean water [(increases)(decreases)].

Historical Events

19 September 1957...Bathyscaph Trieste, in a dive sponsored by the Office of Naval Research in the Mediterranean, reached a record depth of 2 miles. (Naval Historical Center)
19 September 1967...Hurricane Beulah deluged Brownsville, TX with 12.19 in. of rain in 24 hrs, to establish a record for that location. Hurricane Beulah made landfall on the 20^th near the mouth of the Rio Grande River, where a wind gust of 135 mph was reported by a ship in the port. (19^th-20^th) (The Weather Channel)
20 September 1519...Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In October 1520, he passed through the straits that now bear his name separating Tierra del Fuego and the South American mainland and became the first known European explorer to enter the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic. In September 1522 one remaining ship from the original five that set sail returned to Spain, to become the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521. (The History Channel)
20 September 1909...A strong hurricane made landfall in southeastern Louisiana. A 15-ft storm surge flooded the Timbalier Bay area. Some 350 people perished. (Intellicast)
21 September 1938...The "Great New England Hurricane" smashed into Long Island and bisected New England from New Haven, CT across Massachusetts and Vermont, causing a massive forest blowdown and widespread flooding. Winds gusted to 186 mph at Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA, and a storm surge of nearly 30 ft caused extensive flooding along the coast of Rhode Island. The hurricane killed over 600 persons and caused $500 million damage. The hurricane, which lasted twelve days, destroyed 275 million trees. Hardest hit were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Long Island NY. The "Long Island Express" produced gargantuan waves with its 150 mph winds. Waves smashed against the New England shore with such force that earthquake-recording machines on the Pacific coast clearly showed the shock of each wave. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
22-23 September 1998...Hurricane Georges raked Hispaniola leaving over 580 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, due mainly to flash flooding and subsequent mud slides in high terrain regions. Damage estimates from the storm exceeded $1 billion (US). (The Weather Doctor)
23 September 1551...The Grand Harbour at Valetta, Malta was hit by a waterspout that then moved inland and caused extensive damage. A shipping armada in the harbor about to go into battle was destroyed by the waterspout killing at least 600 people. (The Weather Doctor)
23 September 1815...One of the most powerful hurricanes to strike New England made landfall initially on Long Island, NY and then again at Old Saybrook, CT before crossing into Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Extensive structural damage resulted. Providence, RI was flooded and six people were killed. This "Great September Gale" was the worst tempest in nearly 200 years, equal in strength to the Great 1938 Hurricane, and one of a series of severe summer and autumn storms to affect shipping lanes that year. (David Ludlum)
24 September 1493...Christopher Columbus set sail with 17 ships on his second expedition to the New World, reaching the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola before returning to Europe in March 1496. (Wikipedia)
25 September 1513...Vasco Núñez de Balboa, a Spanish conquistador-explorer, crossed the isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean, which he christened Mar del Sur (South Sea), claiming the ocean and all adjacent lands for Spain. (Wikipedia)
25 September 1939...A West Coast hurricane moved onshore south of Los Angeles bringing unprecedented rains along the southern coast of California. Nearly 5.5 in. of rain drenched Los Angeles during a 24-hr period. The hurricane caused $2 million in damage, mostly to structures along the coast and to crops, and claimed 45 lives at sea. "El Cordonazo" produced 5.66 in. of rain at Los Angeles and 11.6 in. of rain at Mount Wilson, both records for the month of September. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
25 September 1956...The world's first transatlantic telephone cable system began operating (Clarenville, Newfoundland to Oban, Scotland). Previous cables had been limited to telegraph transmissions. (Today in Science History)