Weekly Ocean News

30 September-4 October 2019

Items of Interest

Watching for high ocean tides along nation's coasts during this week -- According to the NOAA National Ocean Service's High Tide Bulletin for Fall 2019, higher than average astronomical tides are expected along sections of the nation's coasts, running through this Wednesday (2 October). The high tides will be found along the coasts of Alaska, the Hawaiian Islands and the entire U.S. Atlantic Coast, running from Florida's Atlantic coast northward to Maine. Lunar perigee (when the Moon is closest to Earth) will occurred last Friday evening (27 September), followed nearly 16 hours later by the new moon (when the Moon is between Earth and the Sun). These two astronomical events will be responsible for the perigean spring tide that creates higher than normal high tides. Furthermore, mean sea level is generally higher in the early fall months in the along the Atlantic Coast due to warmer, expanding ocean water and changes in weather patterns. [NOAA National Ocean Service News]
World Space Week is celebrated -- The United Nations General Assembly has declared the week of 4 to 10 October to be "World Space Week" that is designed to "celebrate each year at the international level the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition” Last year, more than 5,000 events were held in over 80 countries to celebrate the benefits of space and excitement about space exploration. The theme for World Space Week 2019 is “The Moon: Gateway to the Stars,” to celebrate the 50th anniversary of humans first stepping upon the Moon on 20 July 1969. [United Nations]
Light in the oceans -- If you would like information on the distribution of sunlight in the upper levels of the ocean has an impact upon the distribution of marine life and various processes such as photosynthesis in these layers, please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics -- During the last week, tropical cyclone activity was found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere:
- In the North Atlantic basin (that includes the open North Atlantic, along with the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico) --
  - The former Hurricane Jerry was heading toward the north-northwest across the waters of the western North Atlantic as a strong tropical storm last Monday morning. At that time, Tropical Storm Jerry was approximately 355 miles to the south-southwest of Bermuda. During the remainder of Monday and the predawn hours of Tuesday, Jerry continued to travel toward the north-northwest and then to the north with little change in intensity, before weakening began late Tuesday afternoon. Turning toward the northeast early Wednesday morning, Jerry became a post-tropical cyclone as it was approximately 185 miles to the west of Bermuda. By early Wednesday evening, the maximum sustained surface winds surrounding this remnant low had dropped to 35 mph as the low was approximately 45 miles west of Bermuda. Consult the NASA Hurricane Blog for satellite images and additional information on Hurricane Jerry.
  - Tropical Storm Karen was moving to the northwest across the southeastern Caribbean early Monday, as it was located approximately 245 miles to the south of St. Croix Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands. By late Monday afternoon, Karen had weakened to a tropical depression as it traveled to the north-northwest toward Puerto Rico. However, Tropical Depression Karen re-intensified to a tropical storm early Tuesday morning when its center was only 90 miles to the southwest of St. Croix of 110 miles to the south of San Juan, Puerto Rico. By Tuesday evening the center of Tropical Storm Karen passed over the islands of Vieques and Culbrea, resulting in strong squalls and torrential rain across all the islands stretching from Puerto Rico to the Virgin Islands. Karen continued traveling toward the north over the southwestern Atlantic on Wednesday before curving toward the north-northeast on Thursday afternoon. By late Friday morning, Karen had weakened to a tropical depression and then to a trough of low pressure late Friday afternoon approximately 425 miles to the east-southeast of Bermuda. Satellite images and additional information on Tropical Storm Karen are available on the NASA Hurricane Blog.
  - A tropical depression formed early last Monday (local time) over the far eastern Atlantic approximately 365 miles to the southeast of the southernmost Cabo Verde Islands. By Monday afternoon, this westward-moving tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Lorenzo. Strengthening as it traveled toward the west-northwest on Tuesday, Lorenzo became the fifth Atlantic hurricane of 2019 on Wednesday morning. Lorenzo underwent rapid intensification, becoming a major category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale late Thursday morning as its center was located nearly 1000 miles to the west of the southernmost Cabo Verde Islands. Additional intensification resulted in Lorenzo becoming a category 4 hurricane on Thursday afternoon and after turning toward the north-northwest and north, a category 5 hurricane during the predawn hours of Sunday as maximum sustained surface winds reached 160 mph. At that time, Lorenzo was located 1410 miles to the southwest of the Azores, making Lorenzo the strongest hurricane this far north and east in the North Atlantic basin, according to the National Hurricane Center. By early Monday, Hurricane Lorenzo was a high-end category 2 hurricane heading toward the north-northeast approximately 1200 miles to the west-southwest of the Azores. Lorenzo was forecast to curve toward the northeast on Monday, taking a projected track that would bring it close to the Azores early Wednesday. Some weakening of this hurricane is forecast early this week, remaining a large and powerful hurricane while it passes near the Azores. The NASA Hurricane Blog has additional information and satellite imagery on Hurricane Lorenzo.
- In the eastern North Pacific basin (located off the western North American continent and extending westward to the 140-degrees West meridian) --
- In the western North Pacific basin (extending from the International Dateline westward to the Asian continent) --
  - Tropical Storm Tapah, a former typhoon, was moving across the southern coast of Japan's Honshu Island at the start of last week. On Monday (local time) Tapaha lost its tropical characteristics and had become a midlatitude storm on Monday as it traveled to the northeast across the Sea of Japan. Consult the NASA Hurricane Blog for additional information and satellite imagery on former Typhoon Tapaha.
  - A low pressure area formed developed near the Micronesia Islands in mid-September and then became a tropical depression by the midpoint of last week. Over this past weekend, this tropical depression, identified as Tropical Depression 19W became Tropical Storm Mitag to the east of the main Philippine Island of Luzon. Traveling toward the northwest on Saturday and to the north on Sunday, Mitag continued to strengthen to become a typhoon. As of Monday (local time), Typhoon Mitag was tracking toward the northwest as it was located approximately 450 miles to the southwest of Okinawa, Japan. Typhoon Mitag was expected to pass to the east of Taipei on Monday afternoon before brushing over the coastal fringes of mainland China to the south of Shanghai. Mitag was projected to continue across the Yellow Sea and into the Korean Peninsula by this upcoming Wednesday. Consult the NASA Hurricane Blog for additional information on Typhoon Mitag.
- In the North Indian Ocean basin --
  Tropical Cyclone 3A, which became known as Tropical Storm Hikaa, was traveling westward across the Arabian Sea several hundred miles to the south of Pakistan at the start of last week. This tropical storm strengthened to become a category 1 tropical cyclone (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) late Monday and then a category 2 cyclone on Tuesday as maximum sustained surface winds reached 100 mph. Cyclone Hikaa reached the coast of Oman on Tuesday, eventually weakening and dissipating. The NASA Hurricane Blog has satellite images and additional information on Cyclone Hikaa.
Sea ice on Arctic Ocean reaches its second smallest seasonal extent -- During the last week scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and National Snow and Ice Data Center announced that the sea ice cover on the Arctic Ocean appeared to have shrunk to its smallest annual extent on 18 September 2019. Since then, the ice cover appears to be increasing. Based on preliminary analysis of data collected by satellite sensors, the Arctic sea ice coverage on this date was determined to be only 1.60 million square miles, which would represent an area that would tie 2007 and 2016 for the second smallest seasonal extent since satellite-based observations began in 1978. (The lowest measured Arctic sea ice extent remains on 17 September 2012, when only 1.31 million square miles of ice covered the Arctic Ocean.) [National Snow & Ice Data Center News] or [NOAA Climate.gov News] A 2:33-minute video shows an animation of the daily sea ice cover from early June through late September 2019, followed by a graphic showing long-term variations of the Arctic sea ice cover. [NASA Earth Science News Team] Furthermore, the date of the minimum coverage (the 18th) is five days earlier than last year's minimum extent on 23 September 2018, which tied 1997 for the latest date in the year for a minimum during the satellite era; a graphic from Climate Central shows the trend toward later dates of Arctic sea ice minimum.
Global climate change accelerates during last four years -- According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in its report entitled "The Global Climate in 2015-2019" that was released early last week, this period from 2015 through 2019 is set to be the warmest five-year period on record. Over this span (which ran until July 2019), sea level rise, ice loss and extreme weather are additional tell-tale indicators of climate change, as atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations have increased to record levels. This report, which was released to inform the United Nations Secretary-General's Climate Action Summit, notes that the global average temperature has increased by 1.1 Celsius degrees since the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), and by 0.2 Celsius degrees compared to the previous five-year interval (2011-2015). In addition, the rate of global mean sea-level rise during the five years (May 2014-2019) was 5 mm per year, compared with 4 mm per year in the 2007-2016 ten-year period. The Arctic's average September minimum (summer) sea-ice extent between 2015 and 2018 was well below the 1981-2010 average, as was the average winter sea-ice extent. The calendar year of 2018 had the largest ocean heat content values on record measured over the upper 700 meters. [WMO Media News]
Considering role of reduced Arctic sea has upon extreme mid-latitude winters -- A meteorologist with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center has written a feature article for the ClimateWatch Magazine that focuses on the research efforts that are attempting to settle the debate about whether reduced Arctic sea ice is causing extreme mid-latitude winters. During the last decade, reduced regional sea-ice cover appears to be coincident with several cold mid-latitude winters. Research in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands indicates that the answer appears to be anomalous atmospheric circulation regimes, not the reduced Arctic ice, as being the culprit for these recent cold winters across midlatitudes. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Choices made in near future are critical to the ocean and cryosphere in the future -- Early last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued their latest 1170-page report entitled "The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate." This landmark global report was approved on 24 September in Monaco by the 195 IPCC member governments. It emphasizes the urgency for timely, ambitious and coordinated action needed to address unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean and cryosphere (the frozen part of the earth). [WMO Media News]
California students halt single-use plastic -- Goleta Family School, an alternative public school program in Santa Barbara, CA, is a NOAA Ocean Guardian School. Students at this school have been active in reducing the use of single-use plastic. Initially, they persuaded a local beachfront restaurant to change how they distributed mints to their customers, which resulted in fewer wrappers along the beach. Next, they had the school implement a ban on plastic baggies on school property, which resulted in the elimination of over 1200 baggies from the landfill. Students from Adams Elementary - Ocean Guardian Ambassadors participated in a “Skip the Straw” campaign, a collaborative project with two local non-profits. Because of their work, the Ocean Guardian Ambassadors from these two schools were awarded the “Explore Ecology’s Environmental Stewardship Award” and the “Looking Good Santa Barbara Spirit of Service Award” for waste reduction. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
Who pays the price when beaches are trashed? -- The NOAA Marine Debris Program funded report entitled "The Economic Impacts of Marine Debris on Beaches" was recently released that evaluated the economic impacts result from marine debris on beaches in four coastal areas around the contiguous U.S. These study areas were the Gulf of Mexico beaches in Alabama, Atlantic Ocean beaches in Delaware and Maryland, Lake Erie beaches in Ohio, and Pacific Ocean beaches in Orange County, California. The results of the study showed that when the amount of marine debris normally on beaches is doubled, coastal economies could experience a substantial negative impact due to a decrease in beach visits and loss of economic activity in those communities. [NOAA News]
Climate change and its effects on snow, ice and hydrology -- The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit has created a site entitled "Melting Glaciers, Snow and Ice" that is designed to help people understand how climate change affect snow, ice, and hydrology. Scientific tools, information, and expertise are available to assist interested citizens, communities, businesses, resource managers, planners, and policy leaders at all levels of government manage their climate-related risks and opportunities, as well as helping them improve their resilience to extreme events. Further information is available in the Regions section of this toolkit pertaining to Alaska and the Arctic. [U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit]
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: The Ocean and the Global Radiation Budget

The ocean is an important player in the radiational heating and cooling of Planet Earth. For one, covering about 71% of Earth's surface, the ocean is a primary control of how much solar radiation is absorbed (converted to heat) at the Earth's surface. Also, the ocean is the main source of the most important greenhouse gas (water vapor) and is a major regulator of the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), another greenhouse gas.

On an annual average, the ocean absorbs about 92% of the solar radiation striking its surface; the balance is reflected to space. Most of this absorption takes place within about 200 m (650 ft) of the surface with the depth of penetration of sunlight limited by the amount of suspended particles and discoloration caused by dissolved substances. On the other hand, at high latitudes multi-year pack ice greatly reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the ocean. The snow-covered surface of sea ice absorbs only about 15% of incident solar radiation and reflects away the rest. At present, multi-year pack ice covers about 7% of the ocean surface with greater coverage in the Arctic Ocean than the Southern Ocean (mostly in Antarctica's Weddell Sea).

The atmosphere is nearly transparent to incoming solar radiation but much less transparent to outgoing infrared (heat) radiation. This differential transparency with wavelength is the basis of the greenhouse effect. Certain trace gases in the atmosphere absorb outgoing infrared and radiate some of this energy to Earth's surface, thereby significantly elevating the planet's surface temperature. Most water vapor, the principal greenhouse gas, enters the atmosphere via evaporation of seawater. Carbon dioxide, a lesser greenhouse gas, cycles into and out of the ocean depending on the sea surface temperature and photosynthesis/respiration by marine organisms in surface waters. Cold water can dissolve more carbon dioxide than warm water so that carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere where surface waters are chilled (at high latitudes and upwelling zones) and released to the atmosphere where surface waters are heated (at low latitudes). Photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and all organisms release carbon dioxide via cellular respiration.

Historical Events

30 September 1932...Tropical cyclone rainfall of 4.38 inches at Tehachapi in southern California over 7 hours caused flash floods on Agua Caliente and Tehachapi Creeks resulting in 15 deaths. (The Weather Doctor)
30 September 1954...The USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, is commissioned by the U.S. Navy. In addition to breaking numerous submarine travel records to that time, the Nautilus made the first voyage under the Arctic sea ice at the geographic North Pole in August 1958, passing from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean basins. The Nautilus was decommissioned on 3 March 1980 and is currently on display at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, CT. (The History Channel)
30 September 1997...Omega Navigation Station Hawaii ceased operation, coinciding with the end of worldwide Omega transmissions. (USCG Historian's Office)
1 October 1844...U.S. Naval Observatory headed by LT Matthew Fontaine Maury occupied its first permanent quarters. (Naval Historical Center)
1 October 1846...The British naturalist Charles Darwin, ten years after his voyage on the Beagle, began his study of barnacles, which was to appear in four volumes on living and fossil Cirripedes (barnacles). For his observations, he had a single lens microscope made to his own design. (Today in Science History)
1 October 1976...Hurricane Liza brought heavy rains and winds to Brazos Santiago, Mexico, causing a dam to break on the Cajoncito River, which killed 630 people as a wall of water crashed into the town of La Paz. (The Weather Doctor)
1 October 1893...The second great hurricane of the 1893 season hit the Mississippi Delta Region drowning more than 1000 people. (David Ludlum)
2 October 1836...The British naturalist Charles Darwin returned to Falmouth, England, aboard the HMS Beagle, ending a five-year surveying expedition of the southern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, that included visits to Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, and New Zealand. The information and experience obtained from this voyage led Darwin to develop his historic work on the theory of evolution and the 1859 publication entitled, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. (The History Channel)
2 October 1858...The only hurricane to impact California struck San Diego on this day. Two NOAA researchers, Michael Chenoweth and Christopher Landsea, reconstructed the path of the hurricane using accounts from newspapers of the strong winds. They estimated that if a similar storm were to have hit in 2004, it would have caused around US$500 million in damage. (National Weather Service files)
2 October 1867...A hurricane struck Galveston, TX with a storm tide that caused $1 million damage. (Intellicast)
2 October 1882...A major hurricane struck the Louisiana Delta with 100-mph winds and 12-ft storm tide which inundated the bayous resulting in 1500 deaths. (Intellicast)
2 October 1898...A hurricane struck the Weather Bureau (now National Weather Service) hurricane observation post at Carolina Beach, North Carolina and swept away the office's outhouse. The storm became known as the "Privy Hurricane" and was estimated to be a category 3 or 4 hurricane with winds around 130 mph. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
3 October 1780...A hurricane, which formed on 1 October, destroyed the port city of Savanna-la-Mar on the island of Jamaica on this day. By some estimates, this hurricane caused 3,000 deaths. (National Weather Service files)
3 October 1841...The "October Gale," the worst of record for Nantucket, MA, caught the Cape Cod fishing fleet at sea. Forty ships were driven ashore on Cape Cod, and 57 men perished from the town of Truro alone. Heavy snow fell inland, with 18 inches reported near Middletown, CT and 3 inches at Concord, MA. (David Ludlum)
4 October 1582...The Gregorian Calendar was implemented by Pope Gregory XIII to correct for an increasing discrepancy between the leap year corrections of the Julian Calendar and the actual length of the year marked by the Earth's orbit of the sun. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, 4 October of this year was followed directly by 15 October, skipping over 10 days. (Wikipedia)
4 October 1869...A great storm struck New England. The storm reportedly was predicted twelve months in advance by a British officer named Saxby. Heavy rains and flooding plagued all of New England, with strong winds and high tides along the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Canton, CT was deluged with 12.35 inches of rain. (David Ludlum)
4 October 2005...Hurricane Stan, a minimal Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph maximum sustained surface winds, made landfall near Punta Roca Partida, Mexico at 4 AM EDT on this day. While not a particularly strong hurricane the torrential rains caused flooding and landslides, which resulted in 1513 deaths in Guatemala. (National Weather Service files)
5 October 1864...A tropical cyclone hit India near Calcutta, devastating the city and killing about 60,000 people in the region. (National Weather Service files)
6 October 1963...For five days along the coast of Cuba, Hurricane Flora lashed the island with winds up to 100 mph and dumped over 70 inches of rain. The storm killed 7,000 people. (National Weather Service files)