Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK ONE: 26-30 January 2015

Items of Interest:

Ocean charts, units, location and time -- Please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth for a description of a several types of oceanographic charts along with the definitions of some units commonly used in ocean science to locate positions on the Earth's surface and to identify time.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- During the last week, organized tropical cyclones (low pressure systems such as tropical storms and hurricanes that form over tropical oceans) were continued across the Indian Ocean basin of the Southern Hemisphere and the western Pacific in the Northern Hemisphere:

In the South Indian Ocean Basin, Tropical Cyclone Bansi continued to travel toward the southeast at the start of last week. This former category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale finally weakened and dissipated approximately 300 miles northeast of Mauritius. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Cyclone Bansi.
Tropical Storm Chedza dissipated over the western South Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar early last week. Additional information on Tropical Storm Chedza and accompanying satellite imagery are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In western North Pacific, Typhoon Mekkhala weakened to a tropical storm at the start of last week as it traveled to the northwest across the northern Philippine Islands and then to a tropical depression as it turning toward the east before dissipating over the Philippine Sea to the east of Luzon. Additional information concerning Typhoon Mekkhala can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the South Pacific basin Tropical Storm Niko formed near French Polynesia early last week. This tropical cyclone traveled to the south-southeast and then to the south-southwest during the remainder of the workweek. Some intensification occurred, but winds were beginning to tear Niko apart last Friday approximately 450 miles southeast of Tahiti. See the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information for Tropical Storm Niko.

Connecting between fisheries and climate -- In a recent interview Jon Hare who is a fisheries oceanographer and the Director of the NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center Laboratory in Narragansett, RI discussed how changes in climate with the attendant increases in ocean temperature have caused fish populations in the North Atlantic off the New England Coast to migrate in search of cooler ocean waters. He discussed how the shift in fish distributions in response to climate change has caused a ripple through the ecosystem. Furthermore, Hare stressed the need for increased collaboration between fisheries biologists, oceanographers, and climate scientists. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Stories]
Unraveling the mystery of sea-star wasting disease on Pacific Coast -- Scientists with the Washington Sea Grant program have been investigating the cause of the mysterious demise of sea stars in the Pacific Ocean waters along the coast of Washington state two years ago, as well as at other locations from southern California north to southeastern Alaska. They discovered a virus-sized microorganism that may be the culprit. Furthermore, warming waters may have been a factor that may have helped trigger the current outbreak of this wasting of sea stars. Encouragingly, recent reports indicate an increase in the number of healthy sea stars along the coast. [NOAA Sea Grant News]
Higher ocean temperature decrease tendency for sea turtle basking -- Researchers from Duke University, NOAA's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and the University of Ioannina in Greece have found that as ocean temperatures increase around the globe, the frequency that green sea turtles bask on beaches appears to have decreased. Basking on beaches helps these threatened turtles regulate their body temperatures and may also aid in digestion and their immune systems. The researchers warn that by 2039, green turtles around the Hawaiian Islands may stop basking entirely due to the projected increases in ocean temperatures. [Duke University News]
Amount of old ice in Arctic decreases -- A one-minute video of animated images has been assembled that tracks the changes in the distribution of the relative amount of different ages of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean over a 27-year span from 1987 through early November 2014. This animation reveals that the Arctic sea ice not only moves around the basin continually, but that the age of perennial sea ice that remains over at least one year has been changing over the last three decades. Specifically, the amount of old sea ice, especially ice that is older than nine years, has been decreasing over time, leaving most of the perennial ice cover consisting of first-year ice. In addition, the total amount of perennial sea ice has been generally decreasing over the last several decades. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Ice cap on Norwegian islands slides into Arctic Ocean -- Scientists from the United Kingdom's University of Leeds who have been analyzing data collected by sensors onboard eight satellite missions and output statistics from regional climate models recently reported that the ice cap on Norway's Svalbard Archipelago in the Arctic Ocean has thinned by more than 50 meters since 2012 and is currently flowing into the Arctic Ocean 24 times faster than several years ago. [University of Leeds News]
A view of 135-year history of global temperatures in 30 seconds -- A 30-second animation of the variations in the global distribution of annual surface temperatures over both ocean and land beginning in 1880 and continuing through 2014 has been produced from world-wide climate data collected and analyzed at the NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Attention is turned to the increases in global temperature over the last four decades, culminating in the highest annual global temperature in 2014. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
New estimates indicate accelerated global sea level change -- A study recently made by scientists at Harvard University, reveals that the rise in global sea level since 1990 has accelerated at a rate that is greater than previously thought. The researchers used newer methods to estimate the changes in sea level. Furthermore, they found that their estimates of 20th-century sea-level rise prior to 1990 were lower than earlier estimates. [Harvard University Gazette]
Small variations in sea level create large impacts on southern sections of Great Barrier Reef -- Researchers at Australia's University of Sydney, Japan's University and Northern Ireland's Queen's University Belfast have found that small variations in sea level can cause large changes in the coral reef growth and sediment production along southern sections of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. The researchers found that rapid sediment production and transport occurred from 6000 to 4000 years ago, before slowing dramatically over the next 2000 years as sea level fell by slightly more than one meter (3.3 feet). [University of Sydney News]
New advances in climate science made by NOAA Climate Program Office in 2014 -- NOAA's Climate Program Office (CPO) recently identified some of the advances made by this office in climate observation, research, modeling, and decision support activities for society. In terms of observing the climate system, CPO joined with Princeton University and other research institutions in six-year study called "The Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling program" (SOCCOM) to help the public better understand the biogeochemical and physical properties of the Southern Ocean. Instrumented deep sea floats were deployed. CPO also helped in advancing the understanding of the planetary climate system through the development of the next-generation Climate Forecast System. Finally, CPO was instrumental in helping informing society through several avenues that included the reauthorization of the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). [NOAA Climate Program Office News]
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] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD --

A request: If you have some ocean-related experience that you would like to share with other DataStreme Ocean participants, please send them to the email address appearing at the bottom of this document for possible inclusion in a News file. Thank you. EJH

Concept of the Week: Touring the DataStreme Ocean Website

NOTE: This Concept for the Week is a repeat of that which appeared in last week's Weekly Ocean News.

Welcome to DataStreme Ocean! You are embarking on a study of the world ocean and the role of the ocean in the Earth system. This unique teacher enhancement course focuses on the flow and transformations of energy and water into and out of the ocean, the internal properties and circulation of the ocean, interactions between the ocean and the other components of the Earth system, and the human/societal impacts on and responses to those interactions. Throughout this learning experience, you will be using the DataStreme Ocean website to access and interpret a variety of environmental information, including recent observational data. The objective of this initial Concept of the Week is to explore features of the DS Ocean website.

On Monday of each week of the course, we will post the current Weekly Ocean News that includes Ocean in the News (a summary listing of recent events related to the ocean), Concept of the Week (an in-depth analysis of some topic related to the ocean in the Earth system), and Historical Events (a list of past events such as tsunamis or specific advances in the understanding of oceanography). When appropriate, a feature called Supplemental Information-In Greater Depth will be provided on some topic related to the principal theme of the week.

You will use the DS Ocean website to access and download the weekly "Current Ocean Studies" (plus supporting images) that complement Investigations found in your Ocean Studies Investigations Manual. These materials should be available Monday morning. Click the appropriate links to download and print these electronic Current Ocean Studies and answer forms as well as your Chapter Progress and Investigations Response forms.

The body of the DS Ocean website provides links to the Earth System, information on Physical & Chemical, Geological, and Biological aspects of the ocean, Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, the Great Lakes, and extras-a glossary of terms, maps, educational links, and DataStreme Ocean information. Following each section is a link to other sites that examine the various subsystems of the Earth system. Let's take a quick tour to become more familiar with the DS Ocean website.

Under Physical & Chemical, click on Sea Surface Temperatures. This image uses a color scale to depict the global pattern of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) (in degrees Celsius) averaged over a recent 7-day period and based on measurements by infrared sensors onboard Earth-orbiting satellites. (Depending on your browser, you may have to place your mouse cursor on the slide bar to the right and scroll down to view the entire image.) Compare SSTs in the Northern Hemisphere with those in the Southern Hemisphere. Return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Geological, click on Current Earthquake Activity. The USGS Current World Seismicity page provides a global map of the locations of seismic (earthquake) events color-coded for the past seven days. The size of the squares represents the magnitude of recent earthquakes. Note how earthquakes are concentrated along the margin of the Pacific Ocean. Details of recent earthquakes can be found by clicking on their map squares. Return to the DS Ocean website.

The ocean is home to a wide variety of habitats and organisms. Under Biological, click on Ocean "Color" (Productivity). This is a satellite-derived (SeaWiFS) color-coded map of biological productivity in the surface waters of the world ocean is averaged from October 1978 to date. Orange and red indicates the highest productivity, while dark blue and violet indicate the lowest productivity. Note the vast areas of relatively low productivity over the central regions of the subtropical ocean basins. Individual months within this period may be chosen for viewing. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Under Atmosphere/Ocean Interaction, click on TRMM Tropical Rainfall. The TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) page includes color-coded maps of the Monthly Mean Rainrate (in mm per day) across the tropics for the last 30 days ending on the present date. Changes in rainfall are linked to large-scale shifts in the atmosphere/ocean circulation in the tropics. Now return to the DS Ocean website.

Take a few minutes when you have time to browse the other data and information sources available via the DS Ocean website. You should "bookmark" ("favorites") this page on your computer. Return frequently to learn more about the many resources on the ocean in the Earth system. Bon voyage!

Concept of the Week: Questions

The latest global sea surface temperature map indicates that SSTs are generally higher over the [(western)(eastern)] tropical Pacific Ocean.
The USGS map of Current Earthquake Activity indicates that earthquakes appear to be more common along the [(east)(west)] coast of North America.

Historical Events

28 January 1946...Canada's greatest sailing ship, Bluenose, foundered on a Haitian reef; all hands were saved. Her likeness remains on the Canadian ten-cent coin. (Wikipedia)
28 January 1969...A series of storms that battered Southern California from the 18^th to the 28^th led to $125 million damage in the Los Angeles Basin, along with approximately 9 storm and traffic-related deaths in California. Twenty feet of water covered Sherman Island, a region that contains more than 10,000 dike-protected agricultural acres, when a dike failed. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
28 January 1971...A waterspout swept into Hawaii's Kailua Bay, then into the business and hotel district of Kailua-Kona, destroying or severely damaging a number of buildings including 40 apartment units and collapsing a 6-story hotel under construction. Amazingly, only four people were injured. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
29-30 January 1966...A hurricane that struck Samoa was responsible for 50 deaths, destroyed more than one-third of the homes and damaged the remainder. As many as 50,000 people were left homeless. Swains Island was leveled by the hurricane. Winds gusted to 100 mph at Pago Pago. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
29 January 1983...A series of Pacific coast storms finally came to an end. The storms, attributed in part to the anomalous ocean-atmosphere phenomenon, "El Niño," produced ocean swells 15 to 20 feet high that ravaged the beaches of southern California. Much of the damage was to homes of movie stars in the exclusive Malibu Colony. (The Weather Channel)
30 January 1790...The Original, the first boat specialized as a lifeboat to rescue people from stormy seas was tested on the River Tyne. This 30-foot long self-righting craft went out to shipwrecks for 40 years, saving hundreds of lives. William Wouldhave and Lionel Lukin both claimed to be the inventor of the first lifeboat. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
30 January 1997...Surf up to 12 feet, with sets to 15 feet, pounded the north and west shores of Hawaii. A wave swept eight people into the ocean at Keane Point on Maui. Four tourists who were taking pictures of the waves drowned. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
1 February 1788...A patent for a steamboat was issued by the state of Georgia to Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet. The patent was the only one ever to be issued by Georgia, and first in the U.S. for a steamboat. Much development had to follow before the steamboat would be commercially viable. (Today in Science History)
1 February 1838...A U.S. patent (No. 588) was issued for the screw propeller to John Ericsson, (1803-89), a Swedish American engineer, who later designed and built the Monitor for the Union Navy in the War of the Rebellion. (Today in Science History)
1 February 1811...The Bell Rock Lighthouse was lit for the first time eleven miles off the east coast of Scotland. Using 24 lanterns, it began flashing its warning light atop a 100-foot white stone tower. As the oldest sea-washed lighthouse in existence, it was built by Robert Stevenson on a treacherous sandstone reef, which, except at low tides, lies submerged just beneath the waves. In the centuries before, the dangerous Bell Rock had claimed thousands of lives, as vessels were wrecked on its razor-sharp serrated rocks. (Today in Science History)
1 February 1953...An intense low-pressure system (966 millibars or 29.52 inches of mercury) swept across the North Sea. Wind speeds at Aberdeen, Scotland exceeded 125 mph. A storm surge of 13 feet, aided by a high spring tide, breached the dams in as many as 100 places along the Zuider Zee in The Netherlands, flooding 3.95 million acres or one-sixth of the country. More than 1800 deaths were attributed to drowning and 50,000 people were evacuated. In addition, this storm was responsible for the loss of 100,000 poultry, 25,00 pigs and 35,000 cattle. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)