WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

25-29 June 2012

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2012 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 27 August 2012. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Items of Interest:

Lightning Awareness Week -- The nation will celebrate its eleventh annual National Lightning Safety Awareness Week, this upcoming week, 24 through 30 June 2012, as declared by NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS). NWS launched its national campaign in Tampa, FL (the so-called “lightning capital of the country”) last week. [NOAA News] On average, 54 people in the nation are killed annual by lightning and numerous more are injured. A cartoon character, Leon the Lightning Lion, is promoting the slogan "Don't be a fool! Get out of the pool!" NWS, in conjunction with other sponsors, has a "Lightning Safety" website, http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/, that has links to a variety of informational and teacher resource materials. As many as 20 states are also observing this week with statewide activities.
Silent Spring reaches 50 years -- The serialized version of Silent Spring a book written by Rachel Carson about the detrimental effects to the environment caused by widespread pesticide use was published in The New Yorker magazine starting in June 1962. The book helped sway public opinion and resulted in the creation of tighter restrictions on pesticide use in the United States and other nations. Rachel Carson was employed by the US Bureau of Fisheries. [NASA Earth Observatory]
A view of "Blue Marble" from an Arctic perspective -- A composite natural color image of planet Earth as viewed from over the Arctic was recently assembled by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center from data collected by the Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the recently launched Suomi-NPP satellite. [NASA Earth Observatory]
The half-way point -- Midpoint of calendar year 2012 will occur at midnight local standard time on Sunday morning, 2 July 2012.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During last week, tropical cyclone activity continued across the North Atlantic and North Pacific Ocean basins as waters continued to heat during Northern Hemisphere summer.
In the North Atlantic basin, an area of low pressure intensified to become the third named tropical cyclone of 2012. Ultimately this tropical storm became Hurricane Chris, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season. Interestingly, Chris formed roughly 600 miles south of Newfoundland, well to the north of the usual breeding grounds for tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic basin. Hurricane Chris was relatively short lived, as it weakened after two days to become a post-tropical system after moving eastward and then northward across colder Atlantic waters. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Chris.
Over this past weekend, an area of low pressure over the Gulf of Mexico intensified to become Tropical Storm Debby. As of Sunday afternoon, Tropical Storm Debby was traveling north toward the Florida Panhandle. However, current forecasts indicate that Debby could change direction before making landfall and travel westward along the central and western Gulf Coasts during the first part of the week.
In the western North Pacific Ocean basin, the former Super Typhoon Guchol weakened to a tropical storm early last week as it moved northward across the western Pacific and made landfall on Japan's main island of Honshu . Heavy rain and high winds associated with Guchol battered southwestern Japan . For additional information on former Super Typhoon Guchol , along with satellite imagery, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.
Another tropical storm, which was identified as Tropical Storm Talim, developed early last week over the waters of the South China Sea east of China's Hainan Island. This tropical storm traveled generally northeastward passing through the Taiwan Strait and sweeping across the northern sections of Taiwan as it weakened to a tropical depression by late week. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information on Tropical Storm Talim.
New NOAA fisheries survey vessel is launched --One week ago, a new fisheries survey vessel, the NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker was launched from a Wisconsin shipyard. This 208-foot vessel will assess fish stocks and study other marine life on the US West Coast. [NOAA News]
New members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel announced -- NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, recently appointed four new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that provide independent counsel and recommendations to NOAA on matters associated with ocean and coastal navigation products, information and services. This committee is comprised of maritime officials and industry executives. [NOAA News]
"Dead zone" predictions for Gulf of Mexico contain uncertainty --Two teams of scientists have made separate forecasts of this coming summer's hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. One team from the University of Michigan foresees a small "dead zone" that is approximately the size of Rhode Island based solely upon the below average quantity of nutrients entering the Gulf from the Mississippi River during this past spring. On the other hand, a team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University using data on Mississippi River nutrient inputs compiled annually by the US Geological Survey is predicting a larger hypoxic zone size that is roughly the size of Connecticut. [NOAA News][University of Michigan] [NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science]
Reducing the sound in ocean energy development investigated -- Researchers with the US Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland are recommending the implementation of a sound threshold for pile driving that would be used in the development of the infrastructure needed for ocean energy development, such as for energy turbines. This first-ever sound threshold is based upon actual fish response instead of estimates. [Pacific Northwest Laboratory]
Review of global weather and climate for May 2012 -- Scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center report that the recently concluded month of May was the second warmest May since sufficiently dense global climate records began in 1880. They based their report on preliminary calculations of the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for May 2012, which was only 0.09 Fahrenheit degrees (0.05 Celsius degrees) below the all-time May monthly global temperature record set in 2010. The worldwide average May 2012 land surface temperature was the highest for any May since 1880, while the monthly global ocean surface temperature was the tenth highest on record, as ENSO-neutral conditions (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) prevailed across tropical waters during the month. Furthermore, the combined Northern Hemisphere land and ocean average surface temperature for May 2012 represents the all-time temperature record for any May.
In addition, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for the last three months (March through May), considered meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere (fall in the Southern Hemisphere) was the seventh highest since 1880, as the recent La Niña event weakened, evolving into ENSO-neutral conditions.
Snow cover extent across the Northern Hemisphere during May was the second smallest of the 43-year period of record. Arctic sea ice was also the twelfth smallest for any May since satellite records began in 1979. On the other hand, the sea ice around Antarctica was above average, resulting in the fifteenth largest extent for any May in the 34-year record. [ NOAA/NCDC State of the Climate]
Response of carbon cycle to climate change is studied -- Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London who studied the temperature dependence of respiration in both aquatic and land ecosystems have found that those organisms in marine and freshwater environments appear to have the potential to release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in a warmer climate than their land counterparts. [Queen Mary, University of London]
Hawaiian seabirds residing on an atoll vulnerable to sea-level rise -- A team of US Geological Survey biologists warn that tropical seabirds such as various types of albatross residing on the French Frigate Shoals, a low-lying atoll in the Hawaiian Island chain, would be vulnerable to projected increases in sea level. [USGS Newsroom]
Emperor penguins could be threatened by melting sea ice -- Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and their colleagues warn that if global temperatures continue to rise, the Emperor penguins that are found in East Antarctica could eventual disappear because of the concurrent decline in Antarctic sea ice. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]
Early migration of First Americans based upon new deglaciation data -- A researcher at Oregon State University reports that a new study of lake sediment cores collected from an island in the western Gulf of Alaska would indicate that deglaciation following the last Ice Age across Alaska's eastern Aleutian chain took place 1500 to 2000 years earlier than previously thought. Consequently, this earlier date of deglaciation suggests that the "First Americans" could have migrated from east Asia to North and South America along the area's coast approximately 15,000 years before present, nearly two millennia earlier than the currently accepted date of ice retreat. [Oregon State University]
Past periodic warm episodes in Arctic could be linked to melting Antarctic ice sheets -- An international team of scientists from the US, German and Russia report that their analyses of a long mud core collected on land in the northeastern Russian Arctic region reveal periodic warm interglacial intervals over the past 2.8 million years ago that occurred at time when parts of Antarctica was ice free, and hence, warm. They suggest that this correspondence could indicate a strong inter-hemispheric connectivity in climate. [UMass Amherst] [NSF 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]
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.

Historical Events:

26 June 1954...Eight fishermen were swept off the breakwater of the Montrose Harbor in Chicago, IL by a seiche on Lake Michigan. At the time, this killer wave rose suddenly from a serene Lake Michigan; sunny skies and calm wind conditions were reported. The seiche, produced by an earlier squall on the lake, caused the lake water to rise ten feet. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
26 June 1959...Following an opening ceremony attended by President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II, 28 naval vessels sailed from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes, marking the formal opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway to seagoing ships. The Seaway consists of a navigational channel system of canals, locks, and dredged waterways, permitting travel from the Gulf of St. Lawrence nearly 2500 miles inland to Duluth, MN on Lake Superior. (Naval Historical Center) (The History Channel)
26 June 1986...Hurricane Bonnie made landfall on the upper Texas coast. A wind gust to 98 mph occurred at Sea Rim State Park. The town of Ace recorded 13 inches of rain. (Intellicast)
26 June-7 July 1989...Tropical Storm Allison formed in the Gulf of Mexico from remnants of Hurricane Cosme in the eastern North Pacific. Periods of heavy rain caused flooding across parts of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. Winnfield, LA reported a six-day total of 29.52 inches of rain. This system was responsible for eleven deaths and approximately $500 million in damage. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
27 June 1898...The first solo circumnavigation of the globe was completed in slightly more than three years by the Canadian seaman and adventurer Joshua Slocum of Briar Island, NS when he returned to Newport, RI after sailing the 37-foot Spray a distance of 46,000 miles. After completing this voyage Slocum wrote the classic book, Sailing Alone Around the World describing his adventure. (Wikipedia)
27-29 June 1954...Excessive rains from remnants of Hurricane Alice led to the Rio Grande River's worst flood. Up to 27.1 inches of rain fell at Pandale, TX. As many as 55 people died from the flooding. The river crest at Laredo, TX broke the previous highest record by 12.6 feet. The roadway on the US. 90 bridge over the Pecos River was covered by 30 feet of water on the 27^th. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (David Ludlum)
27 June 1957...Hurricane Audrey smashed ashore at Cameron, LA drowning 381 persons in the storm tide, and causing 150 million dollars damage in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Audrey left only a brick courthouse and a cement-block icehouse standing at Cameron, and when the waters settled in the town of Crede, only four buildings remained. The powerful winds of Audrey tossed a fishing trawler weighing 78 tons onto an offshore drilling platform. Winds along the coast gusted to 105 mph, and oilrigs off the Louisiana coast reported wind gusts to 180 mph. A storm surge greater than twelve feet inundated the Louisiana coast as much as 25 miles inland. It was the deadliest June hurricane of record for the U.S. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
27 June 1978...SEASAT, an experimental U.S. ocean surveillance satellite was launched. Each day, SEASAT made 14 orbits of the Earth, and in a period of 36 hours was able to monitor nearly 96% of the oceanic surface. The measurement equipment on board was able to penetrate cloud cover and report measurements such as wave height, water temperature, currents, winds, icebergs, and coastal characteristics. Although it operated for only 99 days before a power failure, it had already shown the viability of the use of a satellite for collecting oceanic data. The information collected was shared with scientists and was used to aid transoceanic travel by ships and aircraft. (Today in Science History)
27-29 June 1997...Although thousands of miles away, a strong low pressure system southeast of New Zealand produced surf up to seven feet, with occasional sets to ten feet, along Hawaii's south-facing coasts. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
28 June 1983...A waterspout was sighted over Hazin Bay on the Yukon-Kuskokwim coast of Alaska. Satellites detected thunderstorms in the area. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
28 June 1992...A slow moving tropical depression produced excessive rains across southwest Florida. Four-day totals ending on the 28^th, ranged up to 25 inches in the Venice area, with a general 8 to 14 inches over Sarasota and Manatee counties. Two deaths resulted from the flooding. (Intellicast)
29 June 1860...The replacement to the first iron-pile lighthouse in the U.S. was completed at Minot's Ledge, near Scituate, Massachusetts, replacing the one at the same site that was built between 1847 and 1850, lighted 1 Jan 1850 but destroyed in a storm in April 1851. In 1860, the last stone was laid for the new Minot's Ledge lighthouse, five years minus one day after workmen first landed at the ledge. The final cost of about $300,000 made it one of the most expensive lighthouses in U.S. history. It stood off Boston's south shore, just outside Boston Harbor to warn ships of rocks that had claimed many vessels. The first granite block was laid for the new lighthouse on 9 July 1857. The lantern room and second order Fresnel lens were put into place and illuminated on 22 August 1860. This structure has withstood all storms since, and stands to this day. (Today in Science History)
29 June 1982...The Soviet Union launched COSPAS I, the first search and rescue satellite ever launched. In combination with later SARSAT satellites, a new multi-agency, international, search and rescue service was made operational. On 11 September 1982, it was credited with helping to save the crew of Cessna 172, a Canadian airplane. (USCG Historian's Office)
30 June 1886...The second destructive hurricane in nine days hit the Apalachicola-Tallahassee area of Florida. (David Ludlum)
30 June 1972...The entire state of Pennsylvania was declared a disaster area because of the catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes, which claimed 48 lives, and caused 2.1 billion dollars damage. (The Weather Channel)
30 June 1989...The remains of tropical storm Allison dropped copious amounts of rain on Louisiana. Winnfield, LA reported 22.52 inches of rain in three days, and more than thirty inches for the month, a record for June. Shreveport received a record 17.11 inches in June, with a total for the first six months of the year of 45.55 inches. Thunderstorms also helped produce record rainfall totals for the month of June of 13.12 inches at Birmingham, AL, 14.66 inches at Oklahoma City, OK, 17.41 inches at Tallahassee, FL, 9.97 inches at Lynchburg, VA, and more than 10.25 inches at Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh had also experienced a record wet month of May. (The National Weather Summary) (Intellicast)
1 July 1792...A tremendous storm (a tornado or hurricane) hit Philadelphia and New York City. Many young people were drowned while out boating on that Sunday. (David Ludlum)
1 July 1885...The United States terminated reciprocity and a fishery agreement with Canada. (Wikipedia)