Weekly Ocean News

WEEK FIVE: 7-11 October 2013

For Your Information

Light in the oceans -- If you would like information on the distribution of sunlight in the upper levels of the ocean has an impact upon the distribution of marine life and various processes such as photosynthesis in these layers, please read this week's Supplemental Information…In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics --- Several named tropical cyclones developed across the ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere during the last week:

In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Karen formed late in the week over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico just to the north of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Karen, which was the eleventh named storm of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season, traveled to the north-northwest across Gulf toward the central Louisiana coast. Although it strengthened on Friday, it weakened to become a tropical depression by late Saturday night as it approached to approximately 100 miles of the coast. On Sunday morning Tropical Depression Karen weakened to become a post-tropical cyclone or remnant low approximately 85 miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River. The remnant low was expected to be absorbed into a midlatitude cold front moving eastward along the coast. Locally heavy rain associated with this remnant low could continue across the central and eastern Gulf Coast.
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Depression 14-E developed on Sunday afternoon approximately 900 miles to the southwest of the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California. This tropical depression could intensify into Tropical Storm Narda on Monday as it would travel westward.
In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Wutip made landfall along the Vietnam coast at the start of last week after becoming a category 2 typhoon (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale). After making landfall, Wutip weakened quickly. However, flooding occurred over sections of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand due to torrential rain.
Tropical Storm Sepat formed over the western North Pacific at the beginning of the week and traveled toward the west-northwest and then to the north. As it approached Japan, it weakened and ultimately dissipated.
Typhoon Fitow developed at the start of last week over the Philippine Sea to the east of the Philippines. This system traveled to the north-northwest and entered the East China Sea over the past weekend, passing to the north of Taiwan as a category 2 typhoon. By the end of the weekend Typhoon Fitow was making landfall along the coast of mainland China. Fitow was expected to weaken rapidly once it makes landfall.
Typhoon Danas formed late last week over the Northern Marinas to the east of Guam. Over the weekend, Danas travel toward the west-northwest and strengthened to a category 3 typhoon by early Monday (local time). This major typhoon was forecast to continue intensifying as it would curve toward the north and then north-northeast early this week. The projected path would take Typhoon Danas toward the southern Japanese islands.

High resolution weather forecast models provide new view of Hurricane Sandy -- Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have used the Advanced Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting model to create high resolution animations of the track of Hurricane Sandy that traveled along the Atlantic coast and made landfall along the New Jersey coast at the end of October 2012. Using these animations, the researchers found Sandy went through multiple phases before making landfall and had a life cycle that was unique to Atlantic hurricanes. [NCAR/UCAR AtmosNews]
Have the kids drive an underwater robot -- A team of scientists, artists, and students at Scripps Institution of Oceanography has developed free video games for youngsters that are designed to have fun as they learn about oceanography and earthquakes. The Deep-sea Extreme Environment Pilot (DEEP) game lets the youngster pilot a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, miles below the sea surface as part of a series of important and challenging scientific missions. [Scripps Institution of Oceanography]
Melting Arctic sea ice may indirectly cause a decrease in the caribou population -- Penn State University scientists claim that melting sea ice in the Arctic may be an indirect cause for fewer caribou calf births and higher calf mortality in Greenland as the melting sea ice changes have been linked to changes in the timing of plant growth on land, which in turn is associated with lower production of calves by caribou in the area. [Penn State University News]
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, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
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

7 October 1737...A furious cyclone in the Bay of Bengal caused a major disaster at the mouth of the Hoogby River near Calcutta, India. As many as 300,000 people were killed, mainly as the result of the storm's forty foot high surge. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
9 October 1873...LT Charles Belknap called a meeting at the Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the U.S. Navy. (Navy Historical Center)
9 October 1967...A cyclone of relatively small dimension with a surface width of only 31 miles, hit India's coast at Orissa and moved to the northeast along the coast for 75 miles. As many as 1000 people and 50,000 head of cattle died. A surge in the storm's wake penetrated 16 miles inland. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
10 October 1845...Naval School, renamed the U.S. Naval Academy, opened in Annapolis, MD with 50 midshipmen students and seven faculty. (Navy Historical Center)
10 October 1861...Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, oceanographer, statesman, and humanitarian was born. Nansen led a number of expeditions to the Arctic (1888, 1893, 1895-96) and oceanographic expeditions in the North Atlantic (1900, 1910-14). He wrote The Oceanography of the North Polar Basin (1902). For his relief work after World War I, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1922. (Today in Science History)
10 October 1913...President Woodrow Wilson with the aid of a telegraph signal sent from Washington, DC triggered the demolition of the Gamboa Dike, allowing water to fill the Culebra Cut and create Lake Gatun, at 85 ft above sea level, the largest man-made lake at that time. This act signaled the completion of construction of the Panama Canal, which would eventually open to ship traffic between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on 14 August 1914. (Wikipedia, Today in Science History)
11 October 1737...A deadly cyclone and storm surge of 42 ft raced up the Hooghly River in India and through the city of Calcutta destroying an estimated 40,000 boats and drowning as many as 300,000 people. (The Weather Doctor)
11 October 1846...A very intense hurricane caused great destruction in the Florida Keys. Key West was virtually destroyed with 5 feet of water reported in the city. Fort Taylor was reduced to ruins. (Intellicast)
11 October 1897...Property saved at Cape Hatteras, NC. During a severe storm, the surf threatened to wash away a fish house, with valuable nets and other gear. Surfmen saved the property and took it to a place of safety. They also assisted a lighthouse keeper by removing lenses from the beacon to a secure place. The lighthouse was in danger of being washed away by the sea. (US Coast Guard Historian's Office)
12 October 1492...Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted and landed on an island (possibly Watling Island) in the Bahamas during his travels westward across the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ocean route to eastern Asia. Apparently he underestimated the size of the world and assumed that he had reached East Asia after setting sail with three ships from Palos, Spain on 3 August 1492. During this expedition, which was the first known European expedition to the Americas since the 10^th century Viking colonies in Newfoundland, he sighted Cuba and landed on Hispaniola. (The History Channel)
12 October 1886...A hurricane made landfall between Sabine Pass, TX and Johnson's Bayou, LA. Waves were said to be as high as 2-story buildings. The surge extended 20 mi inland, with 150 people killed. Survivors clung to trees or floated on mattresses. Only two of 100 homes in Sabine Pass were reparable. (Accord Weather Calendar)
12 October 1954...Hurricane Hazel pounded Haiti and the island of Hispaniola with winds of 125 mph. Many villages were reported totally destroyed and more than 1000 Haitians died. (The Weather Doctor)
12 October 1965...End of Project Sealab II where teams of naval divers and scientists spent 15 days in Sealab moored 205 feet below surface near La Jolla, CA. (Navy Historical Center)
12 October 1979...The lowest observed sea-level barometric pressure (870 millibars or 25.69 inches of mercury) was recorded near Guam in the western Pacific Ocean at the center of Typhoon Tip. (The Weather Doctor)
13 October 1775...Birthday of U.S. Navy. The Continental Congress established the Continental Navy, later the U.S. Navy. (Naval Historical Center)
13 October 1884...The longitude that passes through the principal Transit Instrument at the Observatory in Greenwich, England was selected as the single universal meridian at the International Meridian Conference held in Washington, DC. A universal day was also selected. (Today in Science History)