18-22 July 2011

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2011 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 29 August 2011. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Item of Interest:

• Check -- Zenithal Sun -- Residents of Hawaii's Big Island will experience a noontime sun that would be directly overhead during this week (22-23 Jul). This occurrence of a zenithal sun is one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents of Hilo and elsewhere on the Big Island. The other time when the Big Island experienced a zenithal sun was in mid May. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]

• Eye on the tropics -- The tropical Atlantic and western North Pacific basins experienced tropical cyclone activity during the past week:
  A tropical depression formed at the start of last week over the waters of the western North Pacific to the east-northeast of Guam and intensified to become Tropical Storm Ma-on. During the week, Ma-on intensified in a major category 4 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it traveled to the west-northwest. Maximum sustained winds of 125 mph with gusts over 155 mph had been reported, which generated high seas. Heavy rain bands were detected. This typhoon was expected to curve toward the north and could reach the southern coast of Japan by early next week, accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain. For additional information on Typhoon Ma-on including satellite imagery, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.
  At the end of last week, a tropical depression formed over the waters of the western Pacific east of the Philippines, near the island nation of Palau. This tropical depression, the ninth of the western Pacific hurricane season, was given the name Tokage. Movement of Tokage was toward the east. Due to interactions with the circulation around Typhoon Ma-on, Tokage was not expected to intensify significantly. Additional information concerning Tokage can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
• New national aquaculture initiative announced -- At the start of last week, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco announced the creation of Aquaculture Technology Transfer Initiative that is designed to enable domestic seafood production to meet the nation's growing demand for seafood and create jobs in coastal communities. [NOAA News]
• Annual stock report indicates rebuilding of nation's fisheries -- NOAA's Fisheries Service recently submitted its "Status of U.S. Fisheries" report to Congress that indicates in 2010 that the stock in several fisheries have increased. Specifically, three fisheries in which stock had been rebuilt to healthy levels were Georges Bank haddock, Atlantic pollock and spiny dogfish in coastal waters of the Northeast. [NOAA News]
• Measures taken to protect sea turtles in Gulf of Mexico -- As of the end of last week, NOAA's Fisheries Service has undertaken steps to protect sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, including the use of additional enforcement personnel at Gulf Coast docks to help fishers comply with the Turtle Excluder Device regulations designed to prevent turtles from being caught in shrimp trawl nets. [NOAA News]
• Review of global climate for June 2011 --Relying upon preliminary data, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center have noted that the combined global land and ocean temperature for June 2011 was 0.68 Celsius degrees (1.1 Fahrenheit degrees) above the 20th century (1901-2000) average, which makes this past June the seventh warmest since reliable global climate records began in 1880. The global land surface temperature was the fourth warmest June on record, while the global ocean surface temperature was the tenth warmest June in 131 years. Furthermore, the combined global land and ocean temperature for the first six months of the year (January through July 2011) was the eleventh highest on record.
  The extent of the Arctic sea ice in June was the second smallest since satellite surveillance began in 1979, while Antarctic sea ice extent in June was the twelfth smallest. [NOAA News]
• US joins international effort in countering illegal fishing -- Late last week, the United States signed a recommendation to regional fishery management organizations that would list vessels engaged in illegal fishing around the world. The US joins more than 50 other countries in the adoption of this recommendation sent to five tuna regional fishery management organizations. [NOAA News]
• A strong El Niño event could cause problems on East Coast -- In a new NOAA study, coastal areas along the nation's East Coast could become more vulnerable to storm surges and sea level changes in the future especially when El Niño events are occurring. Prompted by an unusually large number of destructive storm surges along the East Coast during the 2009-2010 El Niño event, the NOAA scientists studied water levels and storm surge events that occurred during the "cool season" (October through April) between 1961 and 2010 at four represented ports along the Coast. As many as three times the average number of storm surge events occurred during strong El Niño winters. [NOAA News]
• Recent West Coast erosion peak could be repeated due to changing climate -- A coastal geologist from the US Geological Survey and colleagues report that the storms during the 2009-10 El Niño winter eroded beaches along the coasts of California and the Pacific Northwest to unprecedented levels because of higher-than-usual wave energy and water levels. They warn that since the climate pattern of this recent winter could be repeated in future years due to projected increased global temperatures, the severe damage to shorelines could occur more frequently. [USGS Newsroom]
• Tsunami produced airglow signature detected -- Researchers from the University of Illinois using a camera system based in Maui, Hawaii have recorded signature air glow waves in the upper atmosphere that were generated by the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan. Tsunamis can generate atmospheric gravity waves that can propagate into the ionosphere and become airglow waves. Since the airglow signature was detected one hour before the tsunami, the researchers claim that their airglow detection system could serve as an early tsunami detection system. [Engineering at University of Illinois]
• California mussels could be affected by ocean acidification -- Researchers at the University of California Davis warn that California mussels living in beds along North America's West Coast are in danger due to ocean acidification associated with changing climate conditions due to increased carbon dioxide levels that are dissolved into seawater. [UC Davis]
• Ocean's carbon dioxide uptake reduced by changing climate -- A scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her colleagues report that their analysis of a 30-year time series of data collected from the North Atlantic indicates that oceans are sequestering less atmospheric carbon dioxide as temperatures increase around the globe. [University of Wisconsin-Madison News]
• Terrain below glaciers can affect sea level -- Scientists from the United Kingdom's University of Edinburgh report that the terrain found under glaciers can influence the amount that glacier melt would contribute to sea level fluctuations. The scientists claim that their research into past ice sheet movements in Antarctica will help them predict the impact of changing climates on global sea levels. [University of Edinburgh]
• Discovery of underwater volcanoes made in the Southern Ocean -- Using ship-borne sea-floor mapping technology, scientists from British Antarctic Survey discovered a dozen volcanoes below the ocean surface around the remote South Sandwich Islands. The researchers claim that their discovery will help in understanding what happens when volcanoes erupt or collapse underwater, thereby potentially creating serious hazards such as tsunamis. [British Antarctic Survey]
• 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]
• 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.

• 18 July 1986...Videotapes, taken by the deep-sea Alvin submersible, showing SS Titanic's remains were released. Looking like huge stalagmites, rusticles ("rust icicles") are a byproduct of the bacteria slowly converting the iron in the hull. The colony of iron-eating bacteria flourishes in the anaerobic (without oxygen) environment inside the hollow multi-layered rusticles while on the outside, porous layers support oxygen-dependent bacteria. In this eerie way, there is still life on the Titanic as the ship lies deep on the ocean floor. (Today in Science History)
• 18-19 July 1979...A 30-foot high tsunami wave leveled four Indonesian villages on the Sunda Islands during the night. The wave swept 1500 feet inland, causing 589 deaths among the sleeping villagers. A landslide from Mount Werung (Lomblen Island) caused the tsunami. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 18-22 July 1997...Hurricane Danny, the only hurricane that made landfall in the continental US in 1997, moved inland into coastal Alabama at a snails pace. Radar storm total estimates of 43 inches over Mobile Bay. A torrential 32.52 inches of rain fell on 19-20 July at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, establishing a 24-hour maximum precipitation record for Alabama. (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 19 July 1843...The first all-metal liner, the SS Great Britain, was launched from Bristol, England. Designed by I. K. Brunel, the SS Great Britain was the first of the great steamships. She was the world's first screw-propeller driven (and first iron-hulled) steamship to cross the Atlantic (1845). The six-masted, single-screw, 3,270-ton vessel is 322 feet in length overall and carried a crew of 130 including 30 stewards for her 360-seat dining room. As the world's biggest ship of the time, she embarked on a varied career, first as a luxury liner carrying passengers to New York and Melbourne, then as a ferry carrying troops to the Crimea and India, and finally as a cargo ship, before being abandoned in the Falkland Islands in 1886. She was brought back to Bristol on this day in 1970, where she is now being restored by volunteers to her original appearance at the Great Western Dock in which she was built. (Today in Science History)
• 19 July 1886...A hurricane from the Gulf of Mexico crossed Florida causing great damage from Cedar Keys to Jacksonville. This was the third hurricane in one month to cross the Florida peninsula. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 19 July 1897...LT Robert E. Peary, USN, departed on a year long Arctic Expedition that made many important discoveries, including one of largest meteorites, Cape York. (Naval Historical Center)
• 19 July 1994...Hurricane Emilia was the first of three Category-5 hurricanes to develop in the Central Pacific in 1994 as unusually warm sea temperatures prevailed south of Hawaii. Sustained winds reached 160 mph. (Intellicast)
• 20 July 1964...Four Navy divers entered Project SEALAB I capsule moored 192 feet on the ocean floor off Bermuda for an 11-day experiment. On the 22^nd they submerged and then surfaced on 31 July 1964. (Naval Historical Center)
• 20 July 1985...Treasure hunters found the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank approximately 40 miles off the coast of Key West, FL, in 1622 during a hurricane. The ship contained over $400 million in coins and silver ingots. (InfoPlease.com)
• 22 July 1986...Hurricane Estelle passed 120 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands creating a ten to twenty-foot surf. The large swells resulted from a combination of high tides, a full moon, and 50-mph winds. The hurricane also deluged Oahu Island with as much as 6.86 inches of rain on the 24th and 25th of the month. (Storm Data)
• 22-23 July 1996...A strong storm system centered south of Tahiti in the South Pacific was responsible for eight-foot surf along the south shores of Hawaii's Oahu Island. Water safety personnel rescued 95 people from the high surf. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 23 July 1715...Boston Light, the first lighthouse in America was authorized by the Boston Light Bill for construction at Little Brewster Island, MA. This light, located on Little Brewster Island to mark the entrance to Boston harbor, has guided ships since its lantern was first lighted just before sunset, on 14 Sep 1716. In the 1600s, treacherous rocks caused countless loss of lives. False signal fires lit in the wrong places by "wreckers" lured ships aground to plunder. Boston Light was blown up by the British in 1776, but rebuilt in 1783 by Governor John Hancock. The lighthouse was also the last remaining staffed station in the U.S. (Today in Science History)
• 23 July 1788...A weather diary kept by George Washington recorded that the center of a hurricane passed directly over his Mount Vernon home. The hurricane crossed eastern North Carolina and Virginia before moving into the Central Appalachians. Norfolk, VA reported houses destroyed, trees uprooted, and crops leveled to the ground. (David Ludlum)
• 23 July 1958...USS Nautilus (SSN-571) departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the first submerged transit of the North Pole. (Naval Historical Center)
• 23 July 1982...The International Whaling Commission decided to end commercial whaling by 1985-86. (Wikipedia)
• 24 July 1609...A fleet of ships carrying colonists to the New World met with a hurricane near Bermuda, resulting in much loss of property but little loss of life. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
• 24-25 July 1979...Claudette, a weak tropical storm, deluged southeastern Texas with torrential rains. The Houston suburb of Alvin received 43.00 inches, a 24-hour precipitation record for not only the Lone Star State, but for the U.S. Freeport reported a total of 30 inches. Total damage from flooding was over $400 million. On the 27^th, a van loaded with people on their way to a church camp stopped on Texas Highway 7 due to a flooded bridge just west of Centerville. A truck rammed the van, pushing it into the flooded creek, resulting in five people drowning. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24-26 July 1996...Although thousands of miles from southern California, an intense South Pacific storm south of Tahiti produced seven to ten foot surf with some sets up to 12 feet along the southern California coast. Lifeguards participated in more than 500 rescues along the beaches. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2011, The American Meteorological Society.