Weekly Ocean News

WEEK EIGHT: 24-28 October 2016

For Your Information

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2016 Campaign is underway -- The eleventh in the series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2016 will continue through Sunday, 31 October. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Pegasus in the Northern Hemisphere and Grus in the Southern Hemisphere) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The next series in the 2016 campaign is scheduled for 20-30 November 2016. [GLOBE at Night]
New Earth Observatory magazine with stories just for kids -- NASA's Earth Observatory mission recently announced the launch of the first issue of the agency's newest magazine EO (for Earth Observatory) Kids, which is designed to bring engaging science stories to a younger generation. Hands-on activities and experiments are also featured. This first issue focuses upon fresh water. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Marine and tropical weather statements -- This week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth provides identifies those National Weather Service Forecast Centers that monitor the weather, prepare weather forecasts, and issue event-specific warnings or advisories for marine and coastal interests. The terminology used to identify the particular warnings, watches and advisories for marine interests and for tropical weather events is also discussed.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week, tropical cyclone activity was confined to the North Atlantic and North Pacific basins:

In the North Atlantic basin, Hurricane Nicole continued to travel toward the northeast several hundred miles to the southeast of Newfoundland at the start of last week. Nicole traveled toward the northeast during the remainder of the week. By late Monday evening, Hurricane Nicole had weakened to tropical storm as it was located approximately 600 miles to the east of Cape Race, Newfoundland. As of early Tuesday morning, Nicole had lost its tropical characteristics and became an extratropical cyclone (or midlatitude storm). The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Nicole.
A map showing the sea surface temperature anomaly (differences between observed and long-term average surface temperatures) across the western North Atlantic during mid-October from data collected by NASA satellites shows the track of cold water in the wake of Hurricane Nicole as it traveled across the region around Bermuda. The winds surrounding Nicole mixed cold water upward to the surface from the depths. [NASA Earth Observatory]
In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Sarika traveled toward the west-northwest at the start of last week across the South China Sea and weakened to a tropical storm before reaching China's Hainan Island. After crossing Hainan Island, Sarika crossed the Gulf of Tonkin and made landfall on the southern coast of mainland China near the Vietnam border by midweek. At landfall Sarika had weakened to a tropical depression. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information along with satellite imagery on Typhoon Sarika.
Typhoon Haima strengthened to become a category 5 super typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson scale last Wednesday (local time) as maximum sustained surface winds reached 167 mph, when it was headed to the west-northwest toward the northeastern coast of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Haima weakened slightly as it crossed northern sections of Luzon and then headed toward the northwest, making landfall along the southeast coast of China near Hong Kong this past weekend. Heavy rains, strong winds and high seas were brought to northern parts of the Philippines by Super typhoon Haima. Travel was also disrupted in Hong Kong. Additional information and satellite images for Super typhoon Haima can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
A true-color image made from data collected by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite at the start of last week shows former Typhoon Sarika and Super Typhoon Haima moving across the Northwest Pacific Ocean. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Depression 20E formed during the predawn hours of this past Sunday morning slightly more than 400 miles to the south of Manzanillo, Mexico. Direction of motion was to the west-northwest. By late Sunday afternoon, this tropical depression had strengthened to become Tropical Storm Seymour, the eighteenth named tropical cyclone to form in the eastern Pacific in 2016. At the time the center of Seymour was located approximately 370 miles to the south-southwest of Manzanillo and moving to the west-northwest. Current forecasts indicate that Tropical Storm Seymour should continue traveling toward the west-northwest during the first several days of this week, with possible strengthening to a hurricane as of Tuesday.

Nation's next generation weather satellite launch delayed by Matthew -- The launch of GOES-R, the nation's next generation weather satellite has been delayed from its originally scheduled date of 4 November 2016 by the passage of Hurricane Matthew close to NASA's Kennedy Space Center nearly three weeks ago. Some structures around the launch facility sustained damage from the offshore category 3 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale). Pending approval from the US Air Force's 45th Space Wing, a new range date is scheduled for Wednesday, 16 November. [NOAA/NASA GOES-R News]
Assessing the devastation from "record-breaking" Hurricane Matthew -- An "Event Tracker" feature in NOAA's ClimateWatch Magazine follows the path of destruction wrought by Hurricane Matthew earlier this month as it developed in the Caribbean and then tracked across western Haiti, eastern Cuba and the Bahamas before paralleling the coasts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Matthew, which reached category 5 hurricane status briefly because of its maximum sustained surface winds reaching 160 mph, set a variety of records as described in this article. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Funding is awarded to advance coral reef conservation -- Early last week the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation program announced that it was awarding more that more than $9.3 million was being awarded in grants to support conservation projects and studies to benefit coral reef ecosystem management in seven states and US territories in the Caribbean and Micronesia. These projects are focusing on the impacts of climate change, pollution and unsustainable fishing practices upon the nation's coral reefs. [NOAA News]
Sea level rise impacts on Hawaiian habitats are studied -- The Ecological Effects of Sea level Rise (EESLR) project, which is led by the Nature Conservancy and funded by NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, has been attempting to understand and predict the effect of sea-level rise upon unique ecosystems on Hawaii's Big Island. Some of these ecosystems include groundwater-fed "anchialine" pools, wetlands and fishponds. [NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science News]
"Ocean Today Every Full Moon" video series makes a debut -- In conjunction with this past week's full moon, NOAA's Emmy Award-winning Ocean Today team released its inaugural set of videos featuring new discoveries, cutting-edge technology, strange animals and people around the world that contribute to maintaining a health ocean and planet. The "Ocean Today Every Full Moon" will be issued once per month, during every full moon. The first issue featured bioluminescent marine animals. [NOAA Stories]
Marine protected areas are featured -- NOAA's National Ocean Service recently explained the existence and the mission of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the coastal and offshore waters of the US. Marine sanctuaries, estuarine research reserves, ocean parks, and marine wildlife refuges currently constitute many of the MPAs. [NOAA National Ocean Service]
Full life cycle of flooding and its impacts on land and Gulf waters documented -- An oceanographer from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and her colleagues used data from NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite and five other satellite instruments to trace the chronology of the 23-24 May 2015 flood event in Texas, commencing with rains that fell weeks prior to the flood and ending with an unusually shaped plume of freshwater that lingered in the Gulf of Mexico months later. This study documented the potential impacts on the Gulf's marine life. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory News]
Getting the "scoop" on oysters -- As part of the observance of National Seafood Month during October, NOAA Fisheries produced a feature entitled "Oyster Bar 101" that describes the types of oysters that can be consumed and some of the ways to eat them. A video shows the "Chesapeake stab method" of shucking an oyster. [NOAA Fisheries Aquaculture]
Impacts of changing climate on key marine food source are tracked -- Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have conducted a study that shows how changes in ocean temperature affect levels of Synechococcus, a tiny bacterium common in marine ecosystems, the near shore waters along the Massachusetts coast over a 13-year period. As ocean temperatures increased during that time, annual blooms of this key phytoplankton species occurred as much as four weeks earlier than usual, since cells divided faster in warmer conditions. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution News]
September 2016 weather and climate for the globe reviewed -- Scientists at the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) recently reported on their analysis of preliminary weather data collected from around the world during the month of September 2016. They found:

The global combined land and ocean average surface temperature for September 2016 was 2.32 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century average (1901-2000) for the month, which makes last month the second warmest September since a sufficiently dense network of global temperature records began in 1880. The September combined global temperature record was 0.07 Fahrenheit degrees below the monthly record temperature, set only one year ago (September 2015).
When considered separately, the land surface surface temperature for this recently concluded month also was the highest September temperature in the 137-year record, with a monthly temperature that was approximately 2.32 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th-century average. This new September record surpassed the previous record set last year by 0.20 Fahrenheit degrees. Over the oceans, the September globally-averaged sea surface temperature was 1.33 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average, which tied September 2014 for being the second highest temperature on record for the month.
According to data provided by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) , the September Arctic sea ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere was approximately 27.8 percent below the 1981–2010 average, making it the fifth smallest September Arctic sea ice extent since satellite records began in 1979. In the Southern Hemisphere, the September 2016 Antarctic sea ice extent also was the fifth smallest September extent in the 38-year record.
A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for September 2016 is available from NCEI.
[NOAA/NCEI State of the Climate]

Tabulating top 15 warmest months -- Scientists at NCEI ranked the top 15 warmest months since 1880 in terms of the largest monthly temperature departures from the 20th century. Based upon this ranking, September 2016 was the 11th warmest month in the last 137 years, tying the months of January 2007, February 2016 and June 2016 for that position. Furthermore, 14 of the 15 largest monthly temperature departures in the record have occurred since February 2015. [NOAA/NCEI Global Analysis]
Examples of marine forecasting of "storms without names" -- A feature article describes the experiences of Captain William M. Hopkins, a retired ship captain with the Alaska Marine Highway System, regarding the importance of the National Weather Service in providing marine forecasts to him on powerful midlatitude storms as he guided his ship for more than 30 years in the often stormy waters off Alaska. [NOAA Weather-Ready Nation News] [Editor's Note: The captain is no known close relative of this reporter. EJH]
Northeast urban coasts face sustainability challenges -- A report prepared following the Sustainable Urban Coasts in the Urban Northeast workshop held in October 2014 at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ describes the sharing of ideas by a variety of researchers and shoreline practitioners from the government, academia and private sectors concerning the enhancement of coastal, ecological, and social resilience in the face of potential disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy. [NOAA Climate Program Office News]
Historical tide gauge records may underestimate global sea level rise -- A team of researchers from the University of Hawaii, Old Dominion University and NASA's Jet Propulsion recently claimed that the longest and highest-quality records of historical ocean water levels made by tide gauges may have underestimated the amount of global average sea level rise that occurred during the 20th century due to Greenland ice melt by as much as 25 percent. The scientists base their claim on their analysis of measurements of derived sea level rise from Greenland using NASA's GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites measurements. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory News]
Operation IceBridge is launched for eighth year in Antarctic -- A NASA research aircraft containing sophisticated instruments and a team of scientists has flown its first mission in mid-October from Punta Arenas, a city at the southern tip of Chile. The flight marks the beginning this season's survey of Antarctic ice in the eighth year of Operation IceBridge, a NASA mission that aims to monitor changes in polar ice from a fixed-wing aircraft. Flights were expected to continue through the third week of November. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]
An All-Hazards Monitor-- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Concept of the Week: Loss of Louisiana's Coast

According to the Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force, Louisiana has been losing its coastal wetlands (bayous, marshes, and swamps) to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico at an alarming rate of about 65 to 100 square km (25 to 38 square mi) per year for the past several decades. This loss adversely affects fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico and makes the coastal zone more vulnerable to storm surges such as that produced by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Since the early 1930s, the state's coastal wetlands have shrunk by an area equivalent to the state of Delaware. According to USGS estimates, an additional 1800 square km (700 square mi) could be lost by mid-century. The price tag for reversing this trend, restoring some marshes, and protecting the remaining 15,000 square km (5800 square mi) of wetlands could top $14 billion and take decades to complete. Many people argue that the value of Louisiana's coastal wetlands is well worth the expense.

As much as 75% of the fish and other marine life in the northern Gulf of Mexico depend on Louisiana's coastal wetlands. The wetlands are a nursery for commercially important catches of shrimp, crawfish, blue crab, and oysters. It is a food source for larger fish including yellow fin tuna, red snapper, and swordfish. In 2003, about three-quarters of the nation's fish and shellfish catch by weight came from Louisiana's waters. In addition, the wetlands are a stopover for millions of birds migrating between North and Central/South America. Furthermore, wetlands and associated barrier islands protect the ports, buildings, and other coastal zone structures from storm surges. Wetlands are particularly important in buffering the levees surrounding New Orleans, much of which is below sea level.

Many factors contribute to the loss of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Thousands of kilometers of pipelines transporting oil and natural gas through the marshes plus the extensive network of navigation channels allow saltwater to intrude the wetlands. Increased salinity of the originally fresh or brackish waters kill wetland grasses, shrubs, and other vegetation that anchor soil in place. The canals also allow tidal currents to flow farther inland, accelerating erosion of wetland soils. The most important factor, however, is the consequence of flood control structures (levees) constructed along the banks of the Mississippi River. Levees constrict the flow of the river so that waters and suspended sediment discharge rapidly into the Gulf. Deprived of a continuous input of sediments and vegetation-supporting nutrients, existing sediments compact, wetlands subside and Gulf waters invade the wetlands. With the anticipated continued rise in sea level due to global climate change (discussed in Chapter 12 of your textbook), erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetland may accelerate in the future.

Plans to reverse the loss of Louisiana's coastal wetlands (the Coast 2005 plan and the Louisiana Coastal Area plan) seek to restore the structure and function of coastal wetlands. One proposal is to breach some levees along the lower Mississippi. This partial diversion of the Mississippi would increase the supply of sediments to the wetlands. Closing or installing locks on some navigation canals would reduce saltwater intrusion. In addition, dredged sediment would be used to re-build wetlands and restore barrier islands.

Concept of the Week: Questions

The most important factor contributing to erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetlands is [(saltwater intrusion)(levees along the banks of the Mississippi River)].
Global climate change that is accompanied by a rise in sea level is likely to [(accelerate)(have no effect on)] the rate of erosion of Louisiana's coastal wetlands.

Historical Events:

24 October 1878: The Gale of 1878 was an intense Category 2 hurricane that was active between the 18th and 25th of October. It caused extensive damage from Cuba to New England, as was believed to be the strongest storm to hit the Washington - Baltimore region since hurricane records began in 1851. (National Weather Service records)
25 October 1859...The Royal Charter Storm, named after the loss of the fully rigged ship Royal Charter off the coast of Anglesey, England, drowned about 500 people, along with the loss of gold bullion. The ship was one of over 200 vessels wrecked between 21 October and 2 November, with the loss of around 800 lives. This tragedy led to the introduction of gale warnings in England beginning in June 1860. (The Weather Doctor)
25 October 1921...A hurricane made landfall at Tarpon Springs, FL, as a Category 3 (after weakening from a Category 4), causing several million dollars in damage. (National Weather Service records)
25 October 1941...South Greenland Patrol expanded to include three cutters of the Northeast Greenland Patrol and form the Greenland Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)
25-26 October 1980...The combination of unusually high tides and southeasterly winds gusting to 75 mph generated waves with heights to 25 ft, resulting in serious flooding, beach erosion and sea wall damage along the Maine coast. Wind damage was considerable and as many as 100,000 homes were without power for up to 40 hrs. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
26 October 1865...A hurricane sank the steamship USS Mobile in 1700 feet of water off the Georgia coast. The wreck, laden with 20,000 gold coins, was found in 2003. (National Weather Service records)
26 October 1998...Hurricane Mitch, the second deadliest hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean, reached Category 5 strength on this day. (National Weather Service records)
27 October 1728...Captain James Cook, the famed British naval officer who was one of the first of the scientific navigators, was born on this date. Captain Cook surveyed the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland before making three expeditions into the Pacific Ocean where he became the first Englishman to explore previously uncharted locations. On his various voyages, he conducted astronomical observations and his ship's botanist studied the flora and fauna that were collected. (Today in Science History)
27 October 1922...Navy Day was established by the Navy League of the United States and recognized by President Warren Harding. The day was suggested to recognize the birthdate of former President Theodore Roosevelt who had been an Assistant Secretary of the Navy and supported a strong Navy as well as the idea of Navy Day. The date was the anniversary of a 1775 report issued by a special committee of the Continental Congress favoring the purchase of merchant ships as the foundation of an American Navy. The date was last officially observed in 1949. (US Dept. of Defense)
28 October 1492...The famous Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus, landed on Cuba. (Wikipedia)
28 October 1991...Typhoon Thelma devastated the Philippines. Reports indicated that 6000 people died by catastrophic events related to the storm including dam failure, landslides, and extensive flash flooding. The greatest number of casualties occurred on Leyte Island where an 8-ft storm surge struck Ormoc, accounting for over 3000 fatalities. (The Weather Doctor)
29 October 1867...A hurricane struck Puerto Rico, sinking 50 ships and killing over a thousand people along its path. This is still one of the strongest hurricanes in Puerto Rico's history. (National Weather Service files)
29 October 1999...Tropical Cyclone 5B, with sustained winds of 155 mph, made landfall at Paradwip (Orissa, India). A storm surge of at least 20-ft height swept at least 12 mi inland. This is the strongest tropical cyclone ever record in the North Indian Ocean. More than 10,000 people were killed. With 2 million homes either damaged or destroyed, 35 million people were left homeless. Damage from this tropical cyclone was $1.5 billion. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
29 October 2012...Hurricane Sandy roared into the New Jersey shore bringing 80-mph winds and 30-foot waves to the Atlantic Seaboard from Chesapeake Bay to New England. There were 148 direct fatalities and millions were without electricity, some for up to 3 weeks after the storm. (National Weather Service files)
30 October-1 November 1991...After absorbing Hurricane Grace on the 29^th, an intense ocean storm took an unusual course and moved westward along 40 degrees north latitude and battered eastern New England with high winds and tides. Winds had already been gusting over 50 mph along the coast 2 days before, so seas and tides were very high. Major coastal flooding and beach erosion occurred all along the New England, New York, and New Jersey coasts. Over 1000 homes were damaged or destroyed with tides 4 to 7 ft above normal. Wind gusts reached 78 mph at Chatham, MA and 74 mph at Gloucester, MA. A ship east of New England reported a 63-ft wave. Total damage from the storm was $200 million. On 1 November this ocean storm underwent a remarkable transformation. Convection developed and rapidly wound around the storm center and an eye became visible on satellite imagery. Air Force reconnaissance aircraft found a small but intense circulation with maximum winds of 75 mph. This evolution from a large extratropical low to a small hurricane is rare but not unprecedented. (Intellicast)