Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

16-20 April 2018

Items of Interest

Sunrise is getting earlier "Way Up North" -- The station technician at NOAA's Barrow Atmospheric Observatory in northern Alaska recently provided a photograph using a drone of sunrise above the flat headland jutting out into the Arctic Ocean. The Barrow Atmospheric Observatory, which is located at 71 degrees North latitude, is one of NOAA’s stations for monitoring long-term changes in the global atmosphere. With the passage of the vernal equinox late last month, sunrises occur earlier in the day at a rapid pace, while sunsets are getting later. As of the first week of April, Barrow is gaining approximately 10 minutes of sunlight each day. [NOAA Feature Photo]
See live video of dives from NOAA's Okeanos Explorer in the Gulf of Mexico -- Starting this past week and continuing through 3 May, NOAA and partners will conduct a expedition onboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about unknown and poorly known deepwater areas in the Gulf of Mexico. Live video of dives will be streamed daily online through 2 May, from approximately 8 am to 5 pm, Central Time, conditions permitting. [NOAA Okeanos Explorer Media]
Celebrate Earth Day --This Sunday (22 April 2018) marks the 49th Earth Day, first proposed by the late Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in 1970 as a teach-in to heighten awareness of the environment. The Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has posted a website called "Gaylord Nelson and Earth Day: The Making of the Modern Environmental Movement" that highlights Senator Nelson and his idea became Earth Day. Several governmental websites provides links to various activities and resources planned for this week, including a website maintained by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
NASA has produced a high resolution printable Earth Day poster for 2018 that features an artistic illustration of a solar eclipse around Earth. This year's poster can be downloaded as a pdf file along with a collection of illustrated posters in NASA's annual celebration of Earth Day. High resolution printable PDF files are available for each Earth Day since 2010. [NASA Science Toolkits]
Species dominance and ocean properties -- Discover how variations in both the physical and chemical properties of ocean waters can be accompanied by changes in the dominance of the various species of marine life in this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- During the last week one tropical cyclone developed and traveled across the waters of the western South Pacific Ocean, as Tropical Storm Keni formed at the start of last week between Fiji and Vanuatu. Traveling toward the east-southeast, Keni strengthened as it passed close to Viti Levu, the largest island in the Republic of Fiji and crossed over Kadavu, another island in Fiji. By midweek, Keni became a category 2 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as maximum sustained surface winds reached 98 mph. Torrential rains accompanying Keni fell across the Fiji islands, causing flooding [Aljazeera]. Continuing to the southeast, Cyclone Keni weakened before dissipating well away from any land masses. Satellite images and additional information on Cyclone Keni can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Updated El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion is released -- Late last week forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) released their monthly El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion. They reported that La Niña conditions continued to weaken through March 2018 as below-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were reported across the east-central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, but a warming was detected of the ocean waters below the surface. Atmospheric conditions across the tropical latitudes of the Pacific basin were also suggestive of a weak La Niña. Many of the prediction models used by the forecasters indicate further decay of the La Niña and a transition to ENSO-neutral conditions by the end of May, with neither La Niña nor La Niña conditions prevailing. The forecasters consider this transition from La Niña conditions to be likely, with a 50 percent chance of occurring. The ENSO-neutral conditions were expected to remain through Northern Hemisphere summer. Therefore, the CPC's ENSO Alert System Status still maintains a La Niña advisory since the La Niña conditions were still being detected. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
An ENSO blog was written by a contractor with CPC describing the weak La Niña conditions that remained across the equatorial Pacific, describing how the SST anomalies (differences between observed and long-term temperatures) across the eastern Pacific remained close to the threshold that would be considered a La Niña. Subsurface temperature anomalies in the Pacific Ocean along the Equator were described. In addition, the atmospheric conditions involving convection, outgoing long-wave radiation and winds were also considered. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
An El Niño forecast from Down Under -- Forecasters with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology recently reported that ENSO-neutral conditions were currently occurring in the region near Australia. They foresaw these conditions would continue for the next six months. Therefore, the Bureau's ENSO Outlook status remains as ENSO-Inactive. [Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology]
Names of four hurricanes in 2017 are retired from the active name list -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Region IV Hurricane Committee recently retired the names of Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate from the internationally recognized Atlantic list of hurricane names because these hurricanes were very destructive or so deadly that the future use of the names would be insensitive. With the inclusion of these four names, this list now contains 86 retired names.

Harvey, a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale made landfall along the Texas Gulf Coast during the last week of August 2017 before stalling. Over the next four days after landfall, torrential rains from Hurricane Harvey resulted in catastrophic flooding in southeastern Texas where nearly 60 inches of rain fell. Consequently, Harvey is the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history (after inflation). At least 68 people died from the direct effects of the storm in Texas.
Hurricane Irma, which reached category 5 status during the first week of September 2017 made seven landfalls as it traveled across the northern Caribbean islands before crossing the Florida Keys and then reaching the coast of southwest Florida as a category 3 hurricane during the second week of September. Irma was responsible for 44 direct deaths as a result of its strong winds, heavy rain and high surf, including seven in the U.S. An additional 85 people died because of indirect causes.
Hurricane Maria crossed the island of Dominica as a category 5 hurricane in mid-September, resulting in at least 31 direct fatalities. Maria then slammed into Puerto Rico as a high-end category 4 hurricane, causing as many as 65 deaths and destruction of property and infrastructure to cause Maria to be rated as the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
Hurricane Nate was a category 1 hurricane as it made landfall along the Mississippi Gulf Coast during the first week of October. However, Nate had earlier tracked across Central America as a tropical storm following initial landfall in Nicaragua and Honduras, with the loss of at least 45 lives in Central America.

NOAA News

Coloration of Lake Pontchartrain seen from space -- A natural-color image was generated from data collected in early March by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on NASA's Landsat 8 satellite showing a green coloration of northern portions of Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain by phytoplankton. The phytoplankton blooms were caused by an increase in nutrients from runoff in the waters of the Mississippi River following the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway into the lake to relieve pressure on the levees due to upstream flooding. Warm weather, sunshine and weak winds also contributed to the bloom. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Major North Atlantic circulation system is weakening with changes in redistribution of ocean heat -- Direct oceanographic measurements have found that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a large-scale system of ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean, has been slowing over the last several decades. A team of researchers from Europe and the U.S. report that their computer model simulations appear to confirm these observations that show the AMOC has slowed or weakened by about 15 percent since the 1950s. One of NOAA's global climate model was used to identify the characteristic sea surface temperature patterns. The slowing of AMOC, attributed to a changing climate associated with rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, has caused the redistribution of heat in the North Atlantic Ocean. The resulting changes have been felt along the Northeast U.S. Shelf and in the Gulf of Maine, which has warmed 99 percent faster than the global ocean over the past ten years. These changes are impacting distributions of fish and other species and their prey. [NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center News]
Differences between national marine sanctuaries and marine monuments are explained -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently produced a quick guide explaining the differences between the 13 national marine sanctuaries and the two marine national monuments that form the National Marine Sanctuary System. One of the differences between the two types of units is their creation under different federal laws. NOAA or Congress can designate a national marine sanctuary under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, while marine national monuments are designated by presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Marine National sanctuaries are typically managed by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, while marine national monuments are typically managed by multiple government agencies, which may include NOAA, the U.S. Department of the Interior and other federal and state partners. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries]
Preserving the nation’s maritime history through science and shipwrecks -- NOAA has recently posted a five-part series that describes how scientists have found and explored shipwrecks in NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries in an effort to protect, manage and interpret the nation’s maritime heritage resources that includes these shipwrecks. To date, NOAA scientists, oceanographers and divers have discovered approximately 400 sites within the waters of NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries System, with as many as 3000 ships and submarines from many nations thought to be sunken in these waters. However, two famous historic ship wrecks that NOAA oceanographers and divers have explored are not in waters under the jursidiction of the Mational Marine Sanctuaries: The RMS Titanic, which sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland in 1912, and the USS Arizona, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor, HI in 1941. [NOAA News]
Protection of oceans involves interagency partnerships -- Several offices within NOAA, including the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, have been partnering with the U.S. Coast Guard over the last several decades to protect the oceans that surround the United States. This partnership is currently guided by the 2013 Cooperative Maritime Strategy, which focuses on three main areas: promoting a safe and sustainable marine environment; enhancing regional collaboration; and fostering innovation in science, technology, and youth education. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
West Coast ecosystems may be destabilized by extreme climate variability -- A team of researchers have found that extreme climate variability over the last century across western North America may be destabilizing both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. They claim that climate is increasing its control of synchronous ecosystem behavior in which species populations rise and fall together. This increase in the synchrony could expose marine and terrestrial organisms to higher extinction risks. [Oregon State University 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]

Concept of the Week: Living Coral and El Niño

El Niño episodes of 1982-83 and 1997-1998, the most intense of the 20th century, confirmed the connection between higher than average ocean temperatures and bleaching of hermatypic corals. (Hermatypic corals live in warm shallow water and build large reefs.) Recent field work indicates that the 2015-16 El Niño, which may be the strongest since 1950, has resulted in major bleaching of coral reefs in many locations. Water temperatures higher than 29°C (the normal maximum sea surface temperature in the equatorial eastern Pacific) can trigger expulsion of zooxanthellae, microscopic dinoflagellates whose symbiotic relationship with coral polyps is essential for the long-term survival of coral. Without zooxanthellae, coral polyps have little pigmentation and appear nearly transparent on the coral's white skeleton, a condition known as coral bleaching. If maximum temperatures are not too high for too long, corals can recover, but prolonged warming associated with an intense El Niño (that may persist for 12 to 18 months) can be lethal to coral. Most hermatypic corals thrive when the water temperature is 27°C, but do not grow when the water becomes too cold. Although the ideal temperature varies with species and from one location to another, the temperature range for optimal growth is quite narrow--only a few Celsius degrees. This sensitivity to relatively small changes in water temperature is an important source of information on past climates as fossil coral is a significant component of many limestones. Evidence of bleaching episodes in fossil corals may yield important clues to past changes in the world's tropical ocean.

Coral, sometimes referred to as "the rainforests of the ocean," provides a base for local ecosystems and have many benefits (e.g., fisheries, tourism) that are important in many parts of the globe. Hence, vulnerability to El Niño-associated warming is an object of considerable scientific interest. During the 1997-98 El Niño, NOAA charted significant coral bleaching from portions of the Great Barrier Reef near Australia, French Polynesia in the south Pacific, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya, and around the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Closer to home, coral bleaching was reported in the Florida Keys, the Cayman Islands, and off the Pacific coast of Panama and Baja California. Fortunately, damage from the 1997-98 El Niño warming was less drastic than the 1983-84 El Niño when up to 95% of the corals in some locations died. Many of the corals damaged in the late 1990s have at least partially recovered including important reefs in the Florida Keys. For additional information on coral status, go to the NOAA website http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/.

Historical Events:

16 April 1851...The famous "Lighthouse Storm" (a "nor'easter") raged near Boston Harbor. Whole gales and gigantic waves destroyed the 116-ft Minot Ledge Light at Cohasset, MA with the loss of its two keepers still inside. The lighthouse was the first one built in the United States that was exposed to the full force of the ocean. The storm coupled with a spring tide resulted in massive flooding, great shipping losses and coastal erosion. Streets in Boston were flooded to the Custom House. (David Ludlum) (US Coast Guard Historians Office) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
16 April 1854...A furious storm that produced two feet of snow at New Brunswick, NJ also caused approximately 18 shipwrecks along the New Jersey coast. The immigrant ship Powhattan beached 100 yards from the shore. With rescue impossible, 340 people onboard lost their lives. "The shrieks of the drowning creatures were melancholy indeed." (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
16 April 1992...The Katina P ran aground off Maputo, Mozambique, causing 60,000 tons of crude oil to spill into the ocean. (Wikipedia)
16 April 2008...Typhoon Neoguri formed over the South China Sea on the 15th and rapidly intensified to attain typhoon strength by the 16th, reaching its peak intensity on the 18th with maximum sustained winds near 109 mph. More than 120,000 people are evacuated from Hainan when heavy rains cause flash floods across low-lying areas. Three fatalities are attributed to the storm, though 40 fishermen are reported missing. Neoguri made landfall on China earlier than any other tropical cyclone on record, about two weeks prior to the previous record set by Typhoon Wanda in 1971. (National Weather Service files)
17 April 1492...Spain and the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus signed a contract for him to sail to Asia to obtain spices. (Wikipedia)
17 April 1524...Giovanni Verrazano, a Florentine navigator, onboard the frigate La Dauphine "discovered" New York Bay. (Wikipedia)
18 April 1906...An early morning magnitude 7.8 earthquake along with a subsequent fire devastated much of San Francisco, CA, resulting in one of the worst natural disasters to hit a major US city. As many as 6000 people may have died because of this disaster. The earthquake was along the San Andreas Fault, with an epicenter thought to have been near Mussel Rock along the coast at suburban Daly City. The earthquake generated a local tsunami wave in the San Francisco Bay region that was only approximately 10 cm in height as recorded at a single tide gauge station situated at the opening to San Francisco Bay. (USGS)
18 April 1848...U.S. Navy expedition to explore the Dead Sea and the River Jordan, commanded by LT William F. Lynch, reached the Dead Sea. (Naval Historical Center)
19 April 1770...Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales, Australia. Cook originally named the land Point Hicks.
20 April 1534...Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, set sail from St. Malo, France with two ships to explore the North American coastline in an attempt to find a passage to China. In this first voyage, he explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
20 April 1952...The tankers Esso Suez and Esso Greensboro collided in thick fog off the coast of Morgan City, LA. Only five of the Greensboro's crew survived after the ship burst into flame. (David Ludlum)
21 April 1910...The U.S. Government took over sealing operation of Alaska's Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea from private lessees. (USCG Historian's Office)
21 April 1906...Commander Robert Peary, USN, discovered that the supposed Arctic Continent did not exist. (Naval Historical Center)
22 April 1500...Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral became the first known European to sight Brazil, claiming it for Portugal. (Wikipedia)
22 April 2003...Tropical Storm Ana became the first Atlantic tropical storm since records began in 1871 to form during the month April. Maximum sustained winds reached 55 mph. Beginning as a non-tropical area of low pressure on the 18th about 210 miles south-southwest of Bermuda, it was classified as a sub-tropical storm early on the 20th, it gained full tropical characteristics near 0000 UTC on the 21st, developing an "eye" feature. (National Weather Service files)