Weekly Ocean News

WEEK ELEVEN: 14-18 November 2016

Items of Interest

Teachers invited to join the 2018 NOAA Planet Stewards Education Project Stewardship Community -- Now called NOAA Planet Stewards Education Project, educators across the United States working with elementary through university-age students are invited to learn more about climate change and climate resilience by applying to become part of the NOAA Climate Stewards Education Project (CSEP) Stewardship Community for the 2018/19 academic year. Selected educators who meet project requirements will be eligible for: mini-grants up to $2500 to support a climate stewardship action project; travel reimbursements to attend select workshops and/or national conferences; special professional development opportunities; and additional monetary and educational resources. Applications are due by midnight, Monday 27 November 2017. For more information, go to the NOAA Climate Stewards Education Project Web Site and then to the Stewardship Community Applications Page.
Celebrate Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day -- This week (12-18 November 2017) has been identified as Geography Awareness Week. National Geography Awareness Week, launched by presidential proclamation in 1987, is designed to draw attention to geo-literacy and "the importance of geographic understanding in ensuring our nation's economic competitiveness, national security, environmental sustainability, and the livability of our communities in the 21st century." This year's Geography Awareness Week theme is “The Geography of Civil Rights Movements” designed to help educators shed light on the historical and contemporary struggles of historically disenfranchised groups who have faced and fought discrimination on the basis of age, class, disability, ethnicity, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
In conjunction with Geography Awareness Week, this Wednesday (15 November 2017) has been designated GIS Day, which commenced in 1999 and "provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society." This year's theme "Discovering the World Through GIS." [ GIS Day]
Watching a meteor shower -- This year's Leonid meteor showers should peak during the predawn hours of this coming Friday night and Saturday morning (17-18 November 2017). The Leonid meteor showers, which appear to emanate from the constellation Leo, occur in November as Earth passes through the debris trail from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. As many as 10 to 15 meteors per hour are expected this year. A new moon should provide a sufficiently dark sky for viewing, unless city lights or clouds block the sky. The shower's radiant, or originating point, will be in the eastern sky after sunset and then will shift to the west after local midnight. [EarthSky]
A Long Polar Night -- After being above the horizon for only 52 minutes this Saturday, , the sun set at 1:38 PM Alaska Standard Time (18 November 2017) at Barrow, the northernmost city in Alaska, for the last time this year. The next time the sun will rise above the local horizon in Barrow will be at 1:26 PM AST on 22 January 2018. On that date, the sun will remain above the horizon for 27 minutes. While the sun will be below the horizon for the next 65 days, residents of this city will have roughly three hours of some diffuse sunlight each day that is equivalent to civil twilight, provided the cloud cover is not too thick. To check the sunrise and sunset times of Barrow or any location in the United States go to the US Naval Observatory's on-line, interactive service for the entire year.
Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2017 Campaign is underway -- The eleventh in the series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2017 will continue through Sunday, 19 November. 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 (Pegasus in the Northern Hemisphere and Grus in the Southern Hemisphere) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The next and final series in the 2017 campaign is scheduled for 9-18 December 2017. [GLOBE at Night]
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 --- Several tropical cyclones were reported across the tropical ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere during the past week:

In the North Atlantic, the 17th named tropical cyclone of 2017 in that basin formed early Tuesday morning (local time) from a tropical depression that was moving across the central North Atlantic approximately 890 miles to the east of Bermuda. This new tropical cyclone was named Tropical Storm Rina. Over the next two days, Rina traveled generally toward the north-northeast, well away from any landmasses. By early Thursday afternoon, Tropical Storm Rina lost its tropical characteristics, becoming a post-tropical cyclone as it was approximately 360 miles to the east of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Additional information and satellite imagery are available for Tropical Storm Rina on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the western North Pacific basin, the 29th tropical depression of 2017 in that basin formed last Monday over the waters of the Gulf of Thailand from the remnants of Typhoon Damrey (Tropical Cyclone 28W), which had crossed Vietnam and Cambodia over the previous weekend. This tropical depression was relatively short-lived, weakening to a disorganized low pressure area over the Malay Peninsula. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Tropical Depression 29W.
The 30th tropical depression in the western North Pacific basin of 2017 formed last Thursday over the central Philippines. Moving to the west-northwest and then west across the South China Sea, this tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Haikui. However, Haikui began weakening on Sunday as it approached to within 325 miles to the east-northeast of Da Nang, Vietnam. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information on Tropical Storm Haikui.

Central pressure deficit rather than wind speed should be used to predict hurricane damage -- Researchers at Purdue University, Stony Brook University and Colorado State University claim that central pressure deficit, or the difference in atmospheric pressure between the center of a hurricane and outside of it appears to be a better indicator of economic damage from tropical cyclones in the United States than the use of peak near-surface wind speeds. [Purdue University Newsroom]
Recent nuisance flooding in Florida caused by "king tides" and sea level rise -- A meteorologist with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center wrote an article for ClimateWatch Magazine explaining why many coastal areas in Florida experienced minor flooding during the first weekend of November. Interestingly, the flooding occurred on sunny days that had calm conditions. This flooding was due primarily to the occurrence of a "king tide", or a relatively high astronomical tide caused by enhanced gravitational pull due to the occurrences of a full moon and perigee (close approach of Moon to Earth). In addition, relatively warm ocean waters during the fall, a slow-moving Gulf Stream and rising sea levels also contributed to this recent nuisance flooding. A plot of the maximum daily water levels near Miami, FL during the highest tide of the year (king tides) for the period between 1994 and 2017 shows a long-term rise in sea level. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
A wide range of technologies used to collect data are highlighted by NOAA Fisheries -- In observance of #TechnologyWeek (6-10 November 2017), NOAA Fisheries featured eleven different advancements in technology that have improved how the agency's scientists collect the data needed to explore the marine environment and help manage the nation's fisheries. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Native American Heritage Month is celebrated in the National Marine Sanctuaries -- Since November has been declared Native American Heritage Month, several of the units within NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries System have been observing the month with activities and displays that celebrate the Native Americans' sense of place from a cultural and spiritual perspective as well as from a historical viewpoint. For example, at Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary along the Washington coast, the Makah, Quileute, and Hoh tribes and Quinault Indian Nation are also part of the Intergovernmental Policy Council, while at California's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary a Chumash community working group informing its sanctuary advisory council. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion & La Niña advisory outlook updates released -- Late last week forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) that showed La Niña conditions had developed in October and early November as below average sea surface temperatures (SST) were found across most of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. SST values ranged from between one half and two Celsius degrees below normal across this region. Consequently, the CPC forecasters released their monthly El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion in which they maintained their La Niña advisory, as they envision the present La Niña conditions to persist through this upcoming Northern Hemisphere winter (December through February). They gave the La Niña an approximately 65 to 75 percent chance of continuation for the next three to four months. A technical description of the forecasters' reasoning is provided. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
An ENSO blog written by a contractor for CPC provides a non-technical description of how the CPC forecasters arrived at their determination of La Niña conditions through an explicit decision-making process. She also describes how the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) can influence future weather conditions across the tropical Pacific. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Forecasters with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology recently issued an updated ENSO forecast from a Southern Hemisphere perspective. They reported a decline in sea surface temperatures across the tropical Pacific, which has stalled slightly by MJO. However, all climate prediction models indicate a continuation of La Niña conditions through the remainder of the calendar year of 2017. Therefore, they will maintain the Bureau's ENSO Outlook status at a La Niña WATCH. La Niña WATCH means approximately a 50% chance that a La Niña will form by the end of the year. [Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology]
North Atlantic right whales could be endangered by climate change and sparse protection policies -- Researchers at Cornell University recently warned that even though the population of the highly endangered North Atlantic right whales has made some modest gains in the last decade, the species could be in trouble because of warming ocean waters associated with climate change and the lack of sufficient international protection aimed at reducing mortality rates. [Cornell University News]
International climate change conference is underway -- The twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) and the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 13) is currently being held through this Friday (17 November 2017) in Bonn, Germany. [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] At the opening session of COP 23, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary General Petteri Taalas showcased climate science by presenting reports on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and the state of the Earth's climate. [World Meteorological Organization Press Release]
Atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations reach new record levels in 2016 -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently released its "WMO Greenhouse Gas Bulletin" describing the state of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere based upon global observations through 2016. This bulletin reported that the globally averaged atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration had reached its highest level of 403.3 parts per million by volume (ppmv) in 800,000 years. This increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide above the 400 ppmv reported in 2015 was driven by a combination of human activity and a strong El Niño event that continued into early 2016. The report also notes a 40-percent increase in radiative forcing has occurred between 1990 and 2016, which represented a warming effect on the planetary climate because of record or near record levels of other long-lived greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide from industrial, agricultural and domestic activities. [World Meteorological Organization Media Centre]
International report claims that 2017 set to be in top three hottest years, with record-breaking extreme weather -- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) recently published a report entitled "The World Meteorological Organization's provisional Statement on the State of the Climate" that has been submitted to the twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) currently being held in Bonn, Germany. This WMO report notes that while 2017 appears to be slightly cooler than the record setting 2016, this current year appears to be on a track that may make it one of the three warmest years on record. In addition to increases in the concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases, sea level continues to rise and the sea ice extent in both the Arctic Ocean and around Antarctica has been decreasing.The report identifies several significant extreme weather and climate events in 2017 that include a very active North Atlantic hurricane season, major monsoon flooding across the Indian subcontinent and continuing severe drought in sections of east Africa. [World Meteorological Organization Press Release]
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.) 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 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:

13 November 1970...A cyclone swept over Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, pushing a 49-ft storm surge against the coast at high tide. Flooding killed 500,000. Over 50 million people were affected by the storm rain, wind and surge. (The Weather Doctor)
13 November 2002...The single-hulled oil tanker Prestige sank off Spain's Galician coast, causing a huge oil spill. (Wikipedia)
14 November 1825...The Codorus, the first ship made in the U.S. with sheet iron, was tested on the Susquehanna River at York, PA. The ship weighted five tons, of which two tons was for the coal- and wood- fueled boiler which provided power for an 8-hp engine. With a keel length of 60-ft and a 9-ft beam, the ship drew about seven inches of water. (Today in Science History)
14 November 1977...The "Andhra Cyclone" formed over the Bay of Bengal. The Super Cyclone would strike India on the 19th, killing over 10,000 people, with winds up to 125 mph and a storm surge of 16 feet. (National Weather Service files)
14-21 November 1991...Tropical Cyclone Tia spent most of its life near the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. However, it completely destroyed 90 percent of all dwellings on Tikopia Island. The remaining 10 percent of the buildings sustained collapsed walls or roofs that had been blown off. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
14 November 1999...Hurricane Lenny formed in the Caribbean and began moving in an unusual direction: eastward. Forecasters nicknamed the storm "left-handed Lenny." (National Weather Service files)
15 November 1860...The light in the massive stone Minots Ledge Lighthouse at the entrance to Boston Harbor, which was built on the original site of the one lost in 1851, was exhibited. Work on the new lighthouse commenced in 1855 and was finished in 1860. "It ranks, by the engineering difficulties surrounding its erection and by the skill and science shown in the details of its construction, among the chief of the great sea-rock lighthouses of the world." (USCG Historians Office)
15 November 1854...In Egypt, a royal concession from Said was made that ultimately permitted construction of the Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. (Wikipedia)
15 November 1888...The Norwegian oceanographer and meteorologist Harald Ulrik Sverdrup was born on this date. He was known for his studies of the physics, chemistry, and biology of the ocean. He died in August 1957. (Today in Science History)
16 November 1999...Hurricane warnings were in effect as late-season Hurricane Lenny was threatening Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Lenny was a Category 3 hurricane with top winds of 115 mph. Lenny was not only unusual because of its late-season strength, but because of its forward movement. Lenny was moving from west to east across the Caribbean. It was the first hurricane in recorded history to threaten Puerto Rico from the west. The unusual motion meant that some harbors normally protected from hurricanes were threatened. (National Weather Service files)
17 November 1820...Captain Nathaniel Palmer, USN, became the first American to see Antarctica. He saw the Palmer Peninsula, which was later named after him. (Wikipedia)
17 November 1869...The Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas, was officially inaugurated in Egypt with an elaborate ceremony. (Wikipedia)
17 November 1973...The "Largest Icebreaker in the Western World," USCGC Polar Star, was launched. (USCG Historians Office)
18 November 1421...Wind-driven waves from an intense storm breached Dutch dikes on the Zuider Zee, sweeping away 72 villages. At least 10,000 people died in "St. Elizabeth's flood." (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
18 November 1929...A magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake centered on the Grand Banks off the south coast of Newfoundland broke 12 transatlantic telegraph cables and triggered a tsunami that destroyed many south coast communities on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. (Wikipedia)
19 November 1493...The explorer Christopher Columbus became the first European to go ashore on modern day Puerto Rico one day after seeing it for the first time. At the time, he named the island San Juan Bautista. (Wikipedia)
19 November 1978...A waterspout came onshore to become a tornado near Muhio Wharf in Hilo Harbor on Hawaii's Big Island. Some industrial buildings lost their roofs. The proximity of the waterspout-tornado caused an airliner to change its landing approach to Hilo's airport. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
19 November 1996...The last component of the Confederation Bridge was placed that crosses the Northumberland Strait between Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick. This two-lane eight-mile long bridge, which was opened in May 1997, is the longest bridge over ice covered salt waters in the world. Ice covers the strait for five months per year. (Today in Science History)