WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

5-9 December 2011

DataStreme Ocean will return for Spring 2012 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 16 January 2012. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Ocean News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- No tropical cyclone activity was found across the North Atlantic or in the eastern North Pacific at the close of the official hurricane seasons in both basins this past week.
In the North Indian Ocean Basin, Tropical Storm 5A continued to travel to the northwest across the waters of the Arabian Sea early last week. This minimal tropical storm weakened to a tropical depression by midweek and then dissipated by late in the week over the north central Arabian Sea, well to the southeast of the coast of Somalia. For additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm 5A, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.

Review of Atlantic hurricane season -- With the end of the official 2011 hurricane seasons in the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins last week, NOAA forecasters assessed the season and the forecasts that they had made earlier. They noted that the 2011 Atlantic season was active and that the 19 named tropical cyclones and seven hurricanes, including three major hurricanes, matched their earlier predictions. [Note: A short-lived, unnamed tropical storm that formed in early September between Bermuda and Nova Scotia was recently added to the list.] The 19 named tropical cyclones represent the third highest total (tied with 1887, 1995, and 2010) over the last 161 years. While only one hurricane (Irene) hit the United States, NOAA officials feel that it helped break "hurricane amnesia" that appeared to develop by the public especially in the Northeast because of the length of time since the last land-falling hurricane. [NOAA News] The NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory released a 4.5 minute animation of imagery collected by the NOAA GOES-13 satellite through the entire 2011 hurricane season (1 June-30 November). [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
Hurricane experts, Professor William Gray and Philip Klotzbach from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, also issued a report (in pdf format) in which they summarized the 2011 Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and assessed their seasonal and two-week forecasts. They noted that while tropical cyclone activity was above average, many of these tropical cyclones were relatively weak, with only a slightly above average number of intense hurricanes. They admitted that the activity level was below their earlier predictions.

Upward trend in pollution linked to stronger Arabian Sea tropical cyclones -- In research conducted by scientists from the University of Virginia, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and South Korea's Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, pollution from human activity that has spread across the Indian Ocean like a "brown cloud" appears to been responsible for stronger tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea. The scientists based their conclusions on both observations and models to demonstrate the relationship between decreasing wind shear and the growth of the brown cloud, along with the increase in the number of highly intense storms with winds over 120 mph in the last several decades. [NOAA News]

Tracking an iceberg from space -- Natural color visible images recently generated from data obtained from the MODIS sensor onboard NASA's Terra satellite show how two icebergs have split from the remnants of the large iceberg B-15A that had fractured off Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000. [NASA Earth Observatory]

Annual Arctic Report Card released -- Last week, NOAA's Climate Program Office released its 2011 annual update of the "Arctic Report Card," a report of the state of the air, ocean and ice in the Arctic basin prepared by an international team of 121 scientists from 14 countries, including those from NOAA. These experts have found that air and water temperatures in this region continued to increase in 2011, with decreases in Arctic snow cover and a thinning of Arctic sea ice, together with the second lowest areal coverage in summer sea ice. They also noted that the Arctic basin is entering a new environmental state, as the ocean stability and chemistry has changed along with a change in the region's terrestrial and marine life. Arctic tundra vegetation continues to expand. [NOAA News]

Undersea robots become smarter -- Recent sea tests of autonomous undersea gliders indicate that new software sponsored by the US Navy's Office of Naval Research through its Adaptive Networks for Threat and Intrusion Detection or Termination (ANTIDOTE) program have helped these robotic gliders to become smarter at surveying large swaths of ocean. [Office of Naval Research]

Early rise of atmospheric oxygen was complicated -- An international team of researchers who investigated rock cores from the Fennoscandia Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project (FAR DEEP project), which includes a record from the Proterozoic Eon (2,500 million to 542 million years ago), report that the increase in free oxygen in the atmosphere probably occurred in a long interrupted series of increases and decreases. This discovery reveals a more complex nature to the "Great Oxidation Event" that had been previously thought to have contained a large increase in oxygen during a single event. [Penn State University]

Drop in carbon dioxide levels could have led to Antarctic ice sheet -- Scientists at Purdue and Yale Universities studying molecules from ancient algae retrieved from deep-sea cores report that decreases in atmospheric carbon dioxide by as much as 40 percent approximately 34 million years ago appear to have been the driving force leading to planetary cooling at the end of the Eocene epoch and the formation of the mile-thick Antarctic ice sheet. The researchers claim that the "tipping point" in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels for cooling that initiates ice sheet formation is approximately 600 parts per million, or approximately one and a half times current levels. [Purdue University]

Thoughts about the Earth's magnetic pole reversals -- An article from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center highlights current scientific understanding of the occurrence of the long-term periodic reversal in the Earth's magnetic poles once every 200,000 to 300,000 years during the last 20 million years. The timing of these reversals in the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field have been documented from deep-sea sediment cores especially along the Mid-Atlantic Rift. A discussion of the implications of these reversals upon life on Earth is also made. [NASA GSFC]

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.

Historical Events:

5 December 1872...A British brigantine, the DeGratia, discovered the American ship Mary Celeste derelict and boarded her. The Mary Celeste, a brigantine had set sail from New York harbor for Genoa, Italy, on 5 November 1872. Everyone aboard the Mary Celeste had vanished-her captain, his family, and its 14-man crew. The ship, which appeared to have been abandoned for approximately nine days, was in perfect order with ample supplies and there was no sign of violence or trouble. The fate of the crew remains unknown. (Infoplease.com) (Wikipedia)
5 December 1492...The explorer Christopher Columbus became the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola, which now contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. (Wikipedia)
5 December 1949...A typhoon struck fishing fleet off Korea; several thousand men reported dead. (Infoplease.com)
6 December 1830...The US Naval Observatory, the first U.S. national observatory, established as the Depot of Charts and Instruments in Washington, DC, under commander of Lieutenant Louis Malesherbes Goldsborough. Its primary mission was to care for the U.S. Navy's chronometers, charts and other navigational equipment. (Naval Historical Center)
7-8 December 1703...A monstrous storm raked southern England and adjacent waters with winds in excess of 100 mph. Approximately 8000 deaths were the result of this storm, mostly at sea. Many naval and supply ships were anchored in harbors or in the English Channel. The Eddystone Lighthouse disappeared. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
7 December 1872...An expedition put to sea from Sheerness aboard the corvette H.M.S. Challenger under the command of Captain George Nares on a 3 1/2-year world oceanographic cruise. During the 68,890 nautical mile cruise that ended on 24 May 1876, the ship traversed the North and South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, traveled north of the limits of drift ice in the North Atlantic polar seas and south of the Antarctic Circle. The scientists onboard the Challenger sounded the ocean bottom to a depth of 26,850-ft, found many new species, and provided collections for scores of biologists. (Today in Science History)
7 December 1932...The first gyro-stabilized vessel to cross the Atlantic, the Conte di Savoia of the Italian Line, arrived in New York City. The ship had 48,502 gross tons, an overall length 814.6 ft by beam 96.1 ft, two funnels, two masts, four screws and a speed of 27 knots. As one of the first ships to be fitted with gyrostabilizers, it was claimed that rolling was limited to a maximum of three degrees. The maiden voyage began from Genoa to Villefranche and New York on 30 November 1932. (Today in Science History)
8 December 1777...Captain James Cook left the Society Islands (French Polynesia).
8 December 1866...The first transpacific side-wheeler steamship launched in the U.S. was the Celestial Empire (later named China) with capacity for 1,300 passengers. The builder, William H. Webb of New York, introduced many features of naval architecture in this liner, since in common use. (Today in Science History)
8 December 1993...The U.S. Secretary of Defense declared that the Global Positioning System (GPS), accurate within 100 meters, had 24 GPS satellites operating in their assigned orbits, available for navigation use at Standard Positioning Service (SPS) levels for civil users. This worldwide satellite-based radionavigation system used as the Defense Department's primary radionavigation system provided authorized users encrypted Precise Positioning Service accurate to at least 22 meters. (Today in Science History)
8 December 2002...Super-typhoon Pongsona hit Guam with sustained winds of 144 mph and gusts to 173 mph, along with a storm surge to 20 feet. The 40-mile wide diameter eye was over Anderson AFB for 2 hours. One indirect death and 193 injuries were attributed to the typhoon. Some bridge pavement was "scrapped off" by wind and wave action. Damage was estimated at $700 million. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
9 December1938...A prototype shipboard radar designed and built by the Naval Research Laboratory was installed on the battleship, USS New York (BB-34). (Naval Historian Center)
9 December 2003...A subtropical storm became Tropical Storm Peter approximately 700 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands. With Tropical Storm Odette having formed in the Caribbean on the 4th, the development of Peter marked the first time since 1887 that two tropical storms formed in the Atlantic Basin in December. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
10 December 1582...France began use of the Gregorian calendar.
10 December 1799...The metric system was made compulsory by law in France. (Today in Science History)
10 December 1922...Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian oceanographer explorer, author, athlete and statesman in recognition of his work for refugees and the famine-stricken. Other prize winners that year were Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein.
10 December 1978 (date approximate)...A 90-foot research ship chartered by the University of Hawaii left Honolulu on the 9th, but failed to arrive in Kawaihae on the 11th. Except for an empty box, no trace of the ship, crew or scientists was found by an extensive air and sea search operation. Gusty trade winds prevailed over the area. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
11 December 1901...Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, covering over 2000 miles from Cornwall in England to Newfoundland, Canada. (The History Channel)