WEEKLY WATER NEWS

DataStreme WES Week Eight: 27-31 October 2008

Opportunity for Teachers: The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Teacher at Sea 2009 Field Season program is now accepting applications until 31 December 2008. Gain your "sea legs" and first-hand experience in one week to one month voyages. For more information, or to apply, see http://teacheratsea.noaa.gov.

Water in the News:

Eye on the tropics --Organized tropical activity was relatively light this past week:
- No organized tropical cyclone activity occurred during this past week in the North Atlantic basin.
- In the eastern North Pacific basin, Tropical Depression 17-E formed during midweek off the southwest coast of Mexico, but dissipated within two days after traveling to the northwest. Additional information on this depression can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
- In the North Indian Ocean basin, Tropical Cyclone 3B formed early last week over the Arabian Sea and traveled to the northwest, entering the Gulf of before making dissipating along the coast of Yemen. This cyclone brought torrential rain to arid Yemen. An image made from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite last week shows the clouds surrounding Tropical Cyclone 3 over the Gulf of Aden. [NASA Earth Observatory] Additional satellite imagery and information appears on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  At the start of this week, Tropical Cyclone 4B developed over the Bay of Bengal and was heading north toward Bangladesh.
- In the central South Indian Ocean, Tropical Cyclone 1S, also named Tropical Cyclone Asma formed and traveled to the southwest, dissipating by late in the week. Additional information and satellite images are available on the NASA Hurricane Page for this tropical cyclone, which is a somewhat rare event giving that this time of year is spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
National study of ocean acidification is commissioned -- Officials with NOAA and the National Science Foundation recently announced that the first comprehensive national study has been commissioned to see how carbon dioxide emissions absorbed into the oceans may be altering fisheries, marine mammals, coral reefs, and other natural resources. [NOAA News]
Research ship fleet upgrade plan announced -- The NOAA Administrator recently announced that his agency has completed a detailed plan to modernize its marine operations by replacing nine sea-going research ships and refurbishing a tenth within the next 15 years. Since 2001, nine new vessels have been commissioned, with two additional ships scheduled to enter the service by late 2009. [NOAA News]
Field experiment studies Southeast Pacific climate system -- An international team of researchers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Chile are participating in VOCALS (VAMOS Ocean Cloud Atmosphere Land Study) a month-long field campaign off the Chilean coast designed to sample clouds and aerosols, as well as to measure air-sea-land interactions over the Southeastern Pacific and along the coast, which would ultimately help the researchers improve their global and regional climate models. [National Centre for Atmospheric Science]
Effects of climate change on lakes are studied --Based upon their research in deep caldera lakes at various locations across Japan, researchers from Germany and Japan claim that changes in climate would result in different effects on lakes in warm regions as compared with those in colder climates because of differences in winter circulation patterns within the lakes that affect nutrient exchange. [Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research]
Circumpolar research cruise completed --The German Research Vessel Polarstern recently returned to its home port of Bremerhaven after conducting a two-month and 10,800 nautical mile research cruise that made it the first research vessel to travel around the North Pole as it passed through the Northeast and Northwest Passages. An international group of 47 researchers were aboard the 23rd Arctic expedition of the Polarstern. [EurekAlert!]
Oranges help clean dirty water -- A chemist at Algeria's University of Tlemcen has found that waste orange peels can be used as an absorbent to remove several acidic dyes from polluted water. [EurekAlert!]
Great Lakes restoration is a campaign issue -- While the two major presidential candidates promise to support cleanup and restoration of the Great Lakes, questions remain as to how these efforts would be funded. [US Water News Online]
Harbor seals damaged by mercury pollution -- Several Belgium scientists have determined that exposure to methylmercury from anthropogenic and natural sources appears to be more damaging to harbor seals than previously thought. [EurekAlert!]
World poverty could be reduced by toilets and safe water -- An analysis recently released by the United Nations University indicates that improved sanitation and adequate safe water by installing toilets and ensuring safe water supplies could do more to improve world health and reduce poverty than any other effort. [EurekAlert!]
China should look for opportunities afforded by new dam -- A wetland expert at Ohio State University recently said that Chinese farmers and merchants should take advantage of new agricultural and business opportunities that could help mitigate some effects of the annual flooding envisioned on the Yangtze River behind the newly constructed Three Gorges Dam. [Ohio State University Research News]
Decreased groundwater pesticide concentrations found -- In a decade-long study of over 300 wells across the nation, the US Geological Survey reported that concentrations of pesticide concentrations appears to be decreasing. [American Society of Agronomy]
Sea life threatened by fertilizers -- A professor at Johns Hopkins University who has studied the changes in the sediments at the bottom of Chesapeake Bay warns that increased use of fertilizers along with other human activities has caused changes to the nitrogen cycle, resulting in damage to both water quality and aquatic life. [Springer]
Ancient ocean circulation patterns studied -- Researchers at the University of Missouri and University of Florida have been using a chemical tracer in ancient fish to study the circulation regime in the North Atlantic Ocean during the Late Cretaceous, a time more than 65 million years ago marked by high temperatures and atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide. [University of Missouri 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, including drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
Global Water News Watch -- Other water news sources can be obtained through the SAHRA Project at the University of Arizona [SAHRA Project]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem

Chesapeake Bay is the nation's largest estuarine ecosystem; it is more than 300 km (185 mi) long, 65 km (40 mi) at its broadest, and averages about 20 m (66 ft) deep. The estuary was formed by the post-glacial rise in sea level that flooded the valley of the ancient Susquehanna River. The Bay receives about half its water input from the Atlantic Ocean and the other half from the more than 150 rivers and streams draining a 166,000 square kilometer land area encompassing parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Major rivers emptying into Chesapeake Bay include the Potomac, Susquehanna, York, and James.

An estuary is a complex and highly productive ecosystem formed where seawater and fresh runoff meet. In Chesapeake Bay, more-dense seawater creeps northward along the bottom of the estuary, moving under the less-dense fresh water flowing in the opposite direction. This circulation combined with wind-driven water motions causes salinity to decrease upstream in the Bay, from values typical of seawater at its mouth to freshwater values at its northern margin.

As in all ecosystems, organisms living in estuaries depend on one another and their physical environment for food energy and habitat. This interdependency is evident in food chains, pathways along which energy flows and materials cycle. Phytoplankton and submerged aquatic vegetation (e.g., marsh grass) are the primary producers in estuarine food webs. (Producers acquire energy from solar radiation through photosynthesis and are at the bottom of food chains.) Consumers in food webs are organisms that derive their energy by eating producers or other consumers. Chesapeake Bay consumers include zooplankton, finfish, shellfish, birds, and humans. Through cellular respiration, producers and consumers convert energy to a form that the organism can use for growth and reproduction.

Human activity has greatly modified Chesapeake Bay with consequences for the functioning of its ecosystem. Much of the original forests that covered its drainage basin were converted to farmland, roads, cities, and suburban developments. These modifications accelerated the influx of nutrients (i.e., compounds of phosphorous and nitrogen), sediment, pesticides, and other pollutants. More nutrients spur growth of algal populations and when these organisms die (in mid-summer), their remains sink to the bottom. Decomposition of their remains reduces dissolved oxygen levels in the Chesapeake's bottom water. More sediment makes the water cloudy, reducing sunlight penetration for photosynthesis.

One casualty of human modification of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem was marsh grass--reduced by 90% from historical levels. Marsh grass anchors sediment and dampens wave action thereby controlling erosion and turbidity. Marsh grass is a food source for many organisms including waterfowl and small mammals and serves as primary nursery ground for crabs and many species of fish. Reduction of this habitat along with over-fishing has been implicated in the decline of populations of blue crabs, a mainstay of the Bay fishery for more than a century. Over the past decade, the number of adult female crabs has plunged by about 80%. Without adequate protection by marsh grass, the blue crab is more vulnerable to predation by striped bass (i.e., rockfish). Striped bass turned to blue crabs as a food source when fishing reduced the numbers of menhaden, their preferred food. Menhaden is a marine fish in the herring family and the Bay's top fishery by weight.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Within the waters of Chesapeake Bay, salinity [(is relatively uniform)(varies greatly)].
Marsh grass is a [(producer)(consumer)] in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Historical Events:

28 October 1982...A severe thunderstorm produced softball-sized hail and nearly 4 hrs of flooding rains at Al-Khafqi, Saudi Arabia. Eleven people were killed, along with the destruction of vehicles and buildings. (The Weather Doctor)
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 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. 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)
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 coastlines. 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. One 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. Th is evolution from a large extratropical low to a small hurricane is rare but not unprecedented. (Intellicast)
31 October 1876...A 10 to 50 ft storm surge ahead of the Backergunge cyclone flooded the eastern Ganges Delta in India (now Bangladesh). Over 100,000 people drowned. (The Weather Doctor)
31 October 1846...Eighty-seven pioneers were trapped by early snows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains that piled five feet deep, with 30 to 40 ft drifts. Just 47 persons survived the "Donner Pass Tragedy." (The Weather Channel)
31 October 1874...A waterspout (a tornado-like vortex that travels over water) formed over Lake Erie and reached the lakeshore approximately 0.5 mi west of Buffalo, MY. Upon reaching the shore, it dissipated, scattering sand in all directions. (Accord Weather Calendar)
31 October 1965...Fort Lauderdale, FL was deluged with 13.81 inches of rain over a two-day period (30^th-31^st), the second heavy rainfall in two weeks. This brought their rainfall total for the month of October to an all-time record of 42.43 inches. More road and street damage occurred and some homes were flooded for the second time. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast)
31 October 1984...An exceptional thunderstorm at Al Wajh on the Red Sea coast of northern Saudi Arabia produced 4.81 inches of rain, which was more than the total rainfall there in the previous ten years. At Tabuk 150 miles to the north, 0.49 inches of rain fell to set a daily October rainfall record at that location. (Accord Weather Calendar)
1-6 November 1570...The All Saints Day Floods killed an estimated 400,000 people in Western Europe. (The Weather Doctor)
1 November 1861...A hurricane near Cape Hatteras, NC battered a Union fleet of ships attacking Carolina ports, and produced high tides and high winds in New York State and New England. (David Ludlum)
2 November 1946...A heavy wet snow began to cover the Southern Rockies. Up to three feet of snow blanketed the mountains of New Mexico, and a three-day snowstorm began at Denver, CO. By the time it ended, this storm had dropped 31 inches, making it the second greatest snowfall ever in city history and causing roofs to collapse. (David Ludlum)
2-4 November 1927...The "Great Vermont Flood" occurred as a two-day rain event totaling up to 15 inches at the higher elevations. The deluge put rivers in western New England over their banks and caused the worst flooding in the history of Vermont. Somerset, VT received 8.77 inches of rain to establish a 24-hour record for the state. (3^rd-4^th) The Winooski Valley was devastated. Eighty-four died in the Vermont town of Vernon. Flooding left up to eight to ten feet of water in downtown Montpelier. Across New England the flooding claimed 200 lives, caused $40 million in damage and halted traffic for days. (The Weather Channel) (Intellicast) (David Ludlum)

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