Weekly Ocean News

5-9 February 2018

Items of Interest

Nation celebrates 60 years in space -- Last Wednesday (31 January 2018) marked the 60th anniversary of the successful launch of Explorer 1, the first artificial satellite launched by the United States, which followed by four months the former Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. NOAA and NASA officials celebrated the 60th anniversary of Explorer's launch, as it paved the way to the development of the nation's weather and other environmental satellites, with the launch of the first weather satellite called Television Infrared Observation Satellite (or TIROS-1) in April 1960 and continuing through the recent launch of the NOAA-20 polar orbiting satellite last November. [NOAA NESDIS]
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2018 Campaign for February commences -- The second in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2018 will commence this Monday (5 February) and continue through Thursday, 15 February. 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 with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. These constellations are Orion for latitudes equatorward of 30 degrees latitude in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; Gemini for latitudes north of 30 degrees in the Northern Hemisphere and Canis Major for latitudes poleward of 30 degrees in the Southern Hemisphere. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The third series in the 2018 campaign is scheduled for 8-17 March 2018. [GLOBE at Night]
Climatology facts for 2018 Winter Olympics are available -- The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games is scheduled to open this Friday, 9 February 2018, and run through Sunday, 25 February 2018, in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. A mountain cluster located in Pyeongchang, in South Korea's Taebaek Mountains region, will feature skiing and other sliding events, while the coastal cluster in the city of Gangneung on the east coast of South Korea will feature indoor venues, such as speedskating, hockey and curling. A 52-second video provides several climatological facts for the month of February for the Pyeongchang and Gangneung venues. [Accuweather] Graphs displaying the average annual cycle for a variety of weather elements are also available. [World Weather & Climate Information]
Note: The 2018 Winter Paralympics (officially known as the XII Paralympic Winter Games) will be held in held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, 9 to 18 March 2018.
Remote sensing of the oceans by satellites -- Please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth for a description of how oceanographers have employed orbiting satellites as observation platforms to make remote observations of the world's oceans.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics --- During the last week, two named tropical cyclones (low pressure systems such as tropical storms and hurricanes that form over tropical oceans) were found to be traveling across the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean basins of the Southern Hemisphere:

In the South Indian Ocean, Tropical Cyclone Cebile intensified to become a major category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale with maximum sustained surface winds of 138 mph at the beginning of last week as it took a circuitous path across the open waters of the South Indian Ocean nearly 900 miles to the southeast of Diego Garcia. Over the course of last week, Cebile traveled toward the west, then to the south and then to the southeast. As of Monday morning (local time), Cyclone Cebile had weakened to a tropical storm as it was heading toward the southeast, approximately 1200 miles to the south-southeast of Diego Garcia. Current forecasts indicate that Cebile should weaken during this week as it curves toward the south and then to the southwest as it heads across the open ocean well away from any land mass. Additional information and satellite images for Cyclone Cebile can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the South Pacific basin, Tropical Storm Fehi traveled from the Coral Sea (where it had formed) to the south-southeast past New Caledonia at the beginning of last week. Curving toward the south, Fehi weakened as it entered the Tasman Sea to the east of Australia and the northwest of New Zealand, becoming a remnant low before dissipating by midweek. Torrential rain accompanying Fehi fell across New Caledonia and farther south across New Zealand. Strong winds and high waves from the former Tropical Storm Fehi caused some damage along New Zealand's West Coast. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information on Tropical Storm Fehi.

Private weather station records 199-mph wind gust in Hurricane Irma -- Jeff Masters of the Weather Channel's WeatherUnderground recently reported on the high wind speeds recorded during the passage of category 5 hurricane Irma (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) over the Leeward Islands on 6 September 2017. The highest wind speeds recorded by NOAA instruments at a National Ocean Service station were sustained winds of 118 mph and gusts to 155 mph, but a private weather station on the island of St Barts (officially, Saint Barthélemy) recorded a wind gust of 199 mph before the instrument was destroyed by flying debris. This 199-mph wind gust, which was measured during passage of Irma's eyewall, represents the highest wind gust ever recorded by a personal weather station on the Weather Underground network. The official world record wind gust is 253 mph at Barrow Island, Australia, during Tropical Cyclone Olivia in 1996, while the second highest wind speed ever measured was 231 mph on the top of Mt. Washington, NH on 12 April 1934 during passage of an extratropical storm. [Weather Underground cat6]
Sanctuary Ocean Count project for 2018 commences in Hawaii -- The annual "Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count" began for 2018 when volunteers gathered on Saturday, 26 January 2018 to count whales from the shores of Hawaii's Oahu, Kauai, and the Big Island. This annual count project, which began in 1996, is held during the morning hours of the last Saturday of January, February, and March (during peak whale season) of each year and is meant to offer the community a chance to monitor humpback whales from the shores of three of Hawaii's main islands. [NOAA National Ocean Service News]
The impact of modern-day shipping containers is described -- NOAA's National Ocean Service recently posted a feature describing the role that modern-day shipping containers has played in the revolutionizing global commerce over the last several decades. Currently, two sizes of containers are used: a Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU), the standardized length of a container for international shipping on land and sea and a Forty-Foot Equivalent Unit (FEU) container that is twice the size in length of a TEU. NOAA's role in insuring safety of the nation's marine transportation safety through its PORTS® system, its Office of Coast Survey and its National Weather Service is also addressed. [NOAA National Ocean Service]
A list is made of six "victories for the ocean" during 2017 -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently released its list of six accomplishments occurring in 2017 that the agency considers to be worthy of highlighting. Some of these accomplishments included partnerships that were developed between scientists and the managers of the marine protected areas; the response to natural disasters and threats to marine sanctuaries and nearby coastal communities; the restoration of habitats and ecosystems; opportunities created for tourism and recreation; and important new research undertaken. [NOAA National Sanctuaries News]
Explanation provided for why California received abundant precipitation during last year's La Niña -- A meteorologist with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC)recently posted an ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) blog that addresses the question "why did it rain so much in California during last year's La Niña?" He reminds the audience of what CPC forecasters had written in their 2016-2017 Winter Outlook for the United States prior to the start of the season. Their forecast called for a good chance for below average winter precipitation across southern California, which is often typical during a La Nina winter. (La Niña is an anomalous atmospheric and oceanic circulation event that features below average sea surface temperatures across the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.) However, above average winter precipitation was reported across southern California, while farther north, some areas around San Francisco Bay area had one of their wettest water years (1 October through 30 September) on record. Apparently, last year's La Niña was not particularly strong and eventually deteriorated by early 2017, a situation that permitted a series of storms traveling across the North Pacific to provide abundant precipitation across California. Attention was also turned to the role that a stronger La Niña this year is having upon the lack of significant winter precipitation across California during this current 2017-2018 winter. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Waters along continental shelves are absorbing more atmospheric carbon dioxide -- An international team of scientists from the United States, Belgium and Switzerland recently reported that the ocean waters residing over the continental shelves are sequestering increasing quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide. These results are based upon analysis of the long-term trends in the differences in the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the air and in the shelf water spanning a 35-year period. Increased uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide would counter the increases due to increased greenhouse gas emissions. [University of Delaware Daily]
Mussel growth in Lake Erie appears impaired by toxic cyanobacteria blooms -- NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the U.S. Geological Survey recently reported on a study that found that measured concentrations of cyanobacteria and microcystin in toxic blooms appearing in the waters of Lake Erie impaired mussel growth. Mussels in Lake Erie are a source of food for the Lake's commercial fisheries. However, the researchers found that the cyanobacteria and microcystin did not cause mussel mortality in Lake Erie from 2013 to 2015. [NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science News]
UK Met Office issues 5-year forecast showing increase in global temperature -- Scientists at the United Kingdom's Met Office (formerly called the Meteorology Office) recently released their decadal forecast that indicates the annual global average temperature calculated relative to a baseline of 1850-1900 is likely to exceed 1 Celsius degree above pre-industrial levels (defined as the 1850-1900 interval) during the next five years, or between 2018 and 2022. They indicated that the temperature by 2022 could temporally reach 1.5 Celsius degrees higher than the 1850-1900 levels due to increased greenhouse gas emissions and natural variability. [UK Met Office News]
Link found between rainfall and ocean circulation, now and in the past -- Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, the U.S. Geological Society and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that a linkage has existed for thousands of years between changes in the near surface ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean and rainfall patterns across the Western Hemisphere, especially over the continents. Their conclusions were based upon their analysis of the changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation using 30-year time segments over the past 4400 years obtained from information obtained from three sediment cores extracted from the Gulf of Mexico's seafloor, which were then compared with precipitation data obtained from proxy indicators, such as tree rings, cave formations and other natural records. The researchers note that that future changes to the Gulf's salinity and temperature could be expected to influence the climate of the surrounding continents in other ways. [University of Texas at Austin 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]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Concept of the Week: The Birth of Surtsey, A Volcanic Island
In early November 1963, cod fishers plying the waters of the North Atlantic south of Iceland observed what appeared to be smoke or steam emanating from the distant ocean surface. They were witnessing the beginnings of a volcanic eruption that ultimately would give birth to a new island later named Surtsey after Surtur, the fire giant of Norse mythology. Surtsey is located at 63.4 degrees N, 20.3 degrees W or 33 km (20 mi) south of the coast of Iceland. Volcanic activity was nothing new to the fishers who lived on the nearby volcanic Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar). These islands as well as the main island of Iceland straddle the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary where hot molten lava wells up from the Earth's mantle, cools and solidifies into new oceanic crust.

Eruptions that produced Surtsey began on the ocean floor, some 130 m (427 ft) below sea level. The accumulating lava, cinders, and ash first emerged from the sea on 15 November 1963. Over the next 3.5 years, episodic eruptions built an island that eventually covered 2.5 square km (1 square mi) and attained a maximum elevation of 171 m (560 ft) above sea level. The initial eruptions were explosive as hot magma interacted with cold seawater producing dark jets of ash and steam that shot up to 200 m (656 ft) above two main volcanic vents. At this time, clouds of ash and steam rose into the atmosphere to altitudes perhaps as great as 10 km (6.2 mi). Subsequent eruptions were much more peaceful, consisting of quiescent flows of lava. When the eruptions ceased in early June 1967, a cubic kilometer of ash and lava had built up on the ocean floor with 9% of this volcanic material above sea level.

No volcanic activity has occurred on Surtsey since 1967 and geologists consider the volcanic island to be extinct with little risk of future eruptions. Nonetheless, Surtsey remains off limits to visitors except for scientists who obtain permission from the Icelandic government. The island offers scientists a unique opportunity to study not only the geology but also the establishment of plants and animals on the island, a process known as ecological succession. For example, by 1987, some 25 species of higher plants were growing on the initially barren island and 20 species of birds were nesting there.

Unless volcanic activity begins anew, the future is not bright for Surtsey. Some geologists predict that in a hundred years or so the island will be reduced to scattered stacks of rock. The island is composed of basaltic rock that is particularly vulnerable to weathering and erosion, ocean waves are eroding its shores, and the island is gradually sinking into the sea. Scientists reported a total subsidence of about 1.1 m (3.6 ft) between 1967 and 1991. Compaction of the volcanic material and the underlying sea-floor sediments are likely causes of the subsidence. For NASA topographical images of Surtsey, go to http://denali.gsfc.nasa.gov/research/garvin/surtsey.html . These images were obtained using a scanning airborne laser altimeter.

Historical Events

5 February 1924...Hourly time signals from the Royal Greenwich Observatory were broadcast for the first time. (Wikipedia)
5 February 1997...High winds pushed mountains of ice against the northern shore of Lake Erie crushing several houses and cottages in Colchester, Ontario. This phenomenon is known as ice shove. (The Weather Doctor)
5 February 2004 - Nineteen Chinese cockle-pickers from a group of 35 drowned after being trapped by rising tides in Morecambe Bay, England. (Wikipedia)
6 February 1933...The highest reliably observed ocean wave was observed by crew of the US Navy oiler, USS Ramapo, in the North Pacific during the night on its way from Manila to San Diego. The wave was estimated (by triangulation) to have a height of 112 feet. Average winds at the time were 78 mph. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (See additional discussion on highest ocean waves)
7 February 1969...USCGC Tern, commissioned on this date and stationed in New York, embodied an advanced concept in servicing aids to navigation. Her over-the-stern gantry system of handling buoys is unique. The automation and modernization of over-age, isolated lighthouses and light stations showed significant progress this year. A new, more effective version of the LAMP (Lighthouse Automation and Modernization Project) plan was promulgated in this year. (USCG Historian's Office)
7 February 1978...The worst winter storm of record struck coastal New England. The storm produced 27.5 inches of snow at Boston, and nearly 50 inches in northeastern Rhode Island. The fourteen-foot tide at Portland, ME was probably the highest of the century. Winds gusted to 79 mph at Boston, and reached 92 mph at Chatham, MA. A hurricane-size surf caused 75 deaths and 500 million dollars damage. (David Ludlum)
8 February 1987...A powerful storm produced blizzard conditions in the Great Lakes Region. North winds of 50 to 70 mph raised the water level of southern Lake Michigan two feet, and produced waves 12 to 18 feet high, causing seven million dollars damage along the Chicago area shoreline. It was the most damage caused by shoreline flooding and erosion in the history of the city of Chicago. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
8 February 2001...The log-carrying ship, Leo Forest, lost much of its cargo as over 2300 logs went overboard approximately 400 miles north of Adak, AK. The ship lost power in waves that were greater than 35 feet and the loss of the logs caused the ship to list 10 degrees to port (left) with the bow three feet down. Fortunately, the ship made safe passage to Dutch Harbor for repairs. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
9 February 1942...The French Liner Normandie, a 79,280-ton luxury ocean liner, burned and capsized in New York Harbor during its conversion to an Allied trip transport ship. (The History Channel)
10 February 1807...With the backing of President Thomas Jefferson, the US Coast Survey was authorized by Congress "to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States." The Coast Survey represents the oldest U.S. scientific organization to encourage commerce and to support a growing economy in a safe and efficient manner. (NOAA History)
10 February 1940...USCGC Bibb and Duane made the first transmissions as weather stations as part of the Atlantic Weather Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)
10 February 2010....Cyclone Pat slammed The Cook Islands in the South Pacific with 125-mph winds, which destroyed about 80 percent of the island of Aitutaki. (National Weather Service files)
11 February 1809...The American inventor, Robert Fulton patented his steamboat, the Clermont, for the first time, although he had made the first successful steamboat trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany, NY in 1807. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science)
11 February 1862...The Secretary of the Navy directed the formation of an organization to evaluate new inventions and technical development, which eventually led to the National Academy of Science. (Naval Historical Center)
11 February 1971...The US and the USSR, along with other nations, signed the multilateral Seabed Treaty outlawing the emplacement of nuclear weapons (or "weapons of mass destruction") on the ocean floor in international waters, or beyond a 12-mile coastal zone. (Wikipedia)