12-16 January 2009

• Eye on the Tropics -- Tropical Cyclone Dongo developed at the end of last week near the center of the tropical South Indian Ocean to the south-southwest of Diego Garcia. As of Sunday, this storm was traveling to the south-southeast. For more information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Dongo, please see the NASA Hurricane Page.
  Over the weekend, Tropical Cyclone Charlotte developed over the waters north of Australia.
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• Nation's weather and climate for December 2008 and the calendar year reviewed -- Scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center reported that based upon preliminary temperature data collected for the month of December 2008, the nationwide monthly temperature was below the long-term average that commenced in 1895.  The month of December was relatively cold across all but the Southeast and Eastern Seaboard, with the Upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota) having much below average statewide temperatures.  Other states from Michigan to the West Coast had below average temperatures.  States along the Eastern Seaboard and the eastern Gulf Coast had above average statewide temperatures, with Georgia and South Carolina reporting statewide December temperatures that were well above the 1895-2008 average.  With the December data, the scientists also reported that the annual temperature across the coterminous United States was not only near the long-term average, but the lowest reading since 1997.  
  Precipitation across the US was above average for December 2008, with several states surrounding the Great Lakes having much above average monthly precipitation.  Other states across the nation's midsection and the Rockies also had above average precipitation.  Only Texas had much below average statewide December precipitation, while Oklahoma and Florida also had below average precipitation readings. [NOAA News]
• State and city weather extremes for December 2008 -- The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has posted a listing of some of the notable extremes in temperature, precipitation and other weather elements across the nation for the recently completed month of November 2008 in "Selected U.S. City and State Extremes for December 2008." Note that this site may be updated during the following several weeks as more data are received and analyzed. 
• Mountains affect ozone layer -- Scientists from Germany's Jülich Research Centre, the US Naval Research Laboratory and other institutions claim that "mountain waves" over the mountain ranges on the Antarctic continent help create rare polar stratospheric clouds that help facilitate photochemical reactions that break down chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ultimately resulting in a depletion of stratospheric ozone.  [The New Scientist]
• Great Barrier Reef coral exhibits slow growth --  The decline endangers the species the reef supports, say Researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science note that growth of coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef has declined to the slowest growth rate in the last 400 years, apparently a consequence of higher global temperatures and increased ocean acidification. [BBC]
• Refuting arguments made by climate sceptics -- Following their study of the global annual temperature statistics between 1880 and 2006, researchers with Germany's GKSS Research Centre of Geesthacht and the University of Bern argue that the observed increase in the frequency of warm years since 1990 is statistically significant and influenced by an external driver. [GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht]
• Mechanism shown for how winds make Martian rocks "walk" -- A geoscientist from the University of Arizona and colleagues studying images obtained from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit suggest a method for how winds at the surface of Mars can roll rocks along the planetary surface, using a process that entails continued development of little depressions on the leeward side of the rock, permitting it to roll.  [EurekAlert!]
• Another estimate of sea level rise by early next century -- Comparing the relationships between global temperature and melting of ice sheets using tree ring and ice core analysis techniques, researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, England and Finland warn that their research indicates a one meter rise in the global sea level during the next 100 years, which is approximately three times higher than the predictions recently made by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).  [EurekAlert!]
• British Isles could experience more frequent flooding -- A researcher at Newcastle University predicts that because of increased global temperatures, the British Isles could experience more frequent and more severe storms by the late 21st century that would produce "extreme rainfall events" with flooding.  [Newcastle University]
• Sequence of extreme hydrological events is important for vegetation -- Researchers from South Florida Water Management and the University of Arizona report that the sequence of extreme drought and flooding that may occur in rapid succession over an area appears to be an important consideration in the extent of damage to the region's vegetation. [EurekAlert!]
• Climate-induced food crisis foreseen by end of century -- Researchers from the University of Washington and Stanford University examining the impact of climate change on the world's food supply conclude that  temperature increases across a large section of the globe together with a population explosion especially in the tropical areas could result in half of the world's projected population by 2100 facing a food crisis.   [EurekAlert!]
• Historic mission commences to measure climatic impact of greenhouse gases -- During the past week, an international group of scientists began a historic campaign called HIPPO, or the HIAPER  (High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research) Pole-to-Pole Observations mission where a advance research aircraft will sample several greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide from the Arctic to the Antarctic.  [EurekAlert!]
• Changing climate could increase mercury pollution threat -- Scientists from the University of Florida found that mercury levels in soil samples collected from under trees in air enhanced with carbon dioxide were nearly 40 percent greater than soil beneath trees with ambient air. However, the increased mercury in carbon dioxide enriched soils does not necessarily translate into increased release to water in the soil.  [University of Florida News]
• Smoothing wind power supply -- Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have devised a means for smoothing the wind power supply due to changes in wind speed by using the inertia of the rotor in the wind turbine as an energy storage component, thereby providing a solution to the susceptibility of wind energy systems to wind speed changes. [EurekAlert!]
• Volcanoes can cool the tropics -- Scientists from Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Scotland's University of St. Andrews and University of Edinburgh report that their analysis of tree rings, ice cores and corals that provide proxy climate data from the tropics indicates that while large volcanic eruptions during the last 450 years have cooled the tropics for several years, the effects of these eruptions have been slightly masked during the 20th century by the increased global temperatures.   [EurekAlert!]
• Shade trees reduce summertime electricity use -- A recent study conducted by a research forester at the US Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station and an economist from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology indicates that shade trees on west and south facing sides of an average California home could reduce energy consumption and lower the summertime electric bill by approximately $25 per year.  [EurekAlert!]
• Searching for "nature's leading indicators" to foresee environmental disaster -- Ecologists and economists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are using a "leading indicators" technique to foretell the potential collapse of ecosystems in the same way used by economists to estimate future economic performance.  [University of Wisconsin News]
• A repository in Texas has ocean treasure -- A special refrigerated storage facility at Texas A&M University serves as the repository for nearly 66 miles of cylindrical cores of sediments drilled from the ocean floors around the world as part of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.  [Texas A&M University]
• Home appliances that use natural gas emit particulates -- Researchers from several academic and research institutions in Italy report that home appliances such as water heaters and kitchen stoves that burn natural gas emit ultrafine airborne particulate matter that can result in increased mortality due to respiratory problems. [EurekAlert!]
• Asteroids provide clue to early planet -- A research team from the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee and the Carnegie Institution of Science reports that its analysis of two meteorites found in Antarctica had an exterior with a composition similar to the crust of the ancient earth.   [University of Maryland Newsdesk]
• 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, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [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]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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Prepared by Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2009, The American Meteorological Society.