Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK TWELVE: 28 November-2 December 2016

Items of Interest:

Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2016 Campaign is underway -- The twelfth in the series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2016 will continue through Wednesday, 30 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 (Perseus 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 2016 campaign is scheduled for 20-30 December 2016. [GLOBE at Night]
Beginning of meteorological winter season -- The winter meteorological season in the Northern Hemisphere starts on Thursday (1 December). Recall that climatologists and meteorologists have elected to use a standard three-month grouping to identify each meteorological season. Hence, the months of December, January and February are considered the winter meteorological season. You will note that the winter solstice, marking the day where the length of daylight is least in the Northern Hemisphere is still three weeks away, falling on Wednesday, 21 December 2016. Since the lowest temperatures typically fall in mid to late January, the meteorological winter tends to be centered on the coldest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
In addition, Wednesday (30 November) marked the end of the official 2016 hurricane seasons in the North Atlantic, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, along with the eastern and central North Pacific basins.
The 2016 hurricane seasons reviewed -- With the end of the official 2016 hurricane season in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific on Wednesday (30 November 2016), a quick review of this year's tropical cyclone statistics for the official 2016 hurricane season has been made for both basins. [AMS DataStreme Atmosphere]
For those who are interested in obtaining historic hurricane information, the "Historical Hurricanes Mapping & Analysis Tool" developed by NOAA allows the search and display of detailed data for more than 6000 tropical cyclones in seven of the planet's major ocean basins based upon a data set that runs from 1842 to 2015. Coastal population trends are also available for the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.
Tropical cyclone climatologies of North Atlantic and the eastern North Pacific -- The National Hurricane Center (NHC) has an updated and revised edition of its "Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1851-2006." While a paper copy of this book is available for a cost from NHC, a 243-pg pdf file of this edition can be downloaded for free. NHC also released the first edition of "Tropical Cyclones of the Eastern North Pacific Ocean, 1949-2006." In addition to a paper copy is available for sale, a free 164-page pdf file is available. Both of these climatologies have numerous graphics that show long-term changes in tropical cyclone frequency in the two basins.
A climatology of tropical cyclones in the central North Pacific from the 1950s to 2013 is available from the CPHC climatology website maintained by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) in Honolulu, HI.
It's Sure Dark! -- Have you noticed that the sun is setting early these days? During the first ten days of December, many locations throughout the country will experience their earliest sunset times of the year. The exact day for the earliest sunset depends upon the latitude, so you may want to check the date in your locale from the sunrise tables appearing in an on-line, interactive service available for the entire year at most cities in the United States. The reason for the earliest sunsets occurring in early December rather than on the winter solstice (during the early morning hours of Wednesday, 21 December 2016) is that the sun is not as precise a timekeeper as our watches. Because of a combination of factors involved with Earth's elliptical orbit about the sun and the tilt of Earth's spin axis with respect to the plane of the ecliptic, the sun appears to "run fast" by as much as 15 minutes as compared with clock time in November. However, with the approach of the winter solstice and perihelion (the smallest earth-sun distance during the morning of 4 January 2017), the apparent sun slows during December and finally lags the clock by 12 minutes in February. Consequently, a noticeable and welcome trend toward later sunsets can be detected by the end of December, especially by those residents in the northern part of the country. However, the latest sunrises occur at most locales in early January, meaning that early risers will continue seeing dark and dreary mornings for another month.
SKYWARN™ recognition -- Next Saturday 3 December 2016 (starting at 00Z or 7:00 EST PM on Friday night) has been declared SKYWARN™ Recognition Day, a day in which the National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League celebrate the contributions made by volunteer SKYWARN™ radio operators during the past year's Severe Weather Operations.
Accessing and interpreting climate data -- If you would like to obtain a variety of climate data for your home town or state that are available from the National Weather Service, please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth. This Supplemental not only identifies some of the sites to find the data, but also provides you with a brief explanation of the terminology used to identify the climate data.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week, a tropical cyclone developed over the southwestern Caribbean Sea in the North Atlantic basin and then after passing over Central America entered the eastern North Pacific basin near the end of week. A tropical depression formed during the predawn hours of last Monday morning over the waters of the southwestern Caribbean (a portion of the North Atlantic basin) approximately 300 miles to the east of Bluefields, Nicaragua. By early Monday afternoon, this nearly stationary tropical depression had intensified to become Tropical Storm Otto, the fifteenth named Atlantic tropical cyclone of 2016. Slightly more than 24 hours later (mid Tuesday afternoon, 22 November), Otto became the basin's seventh hurricane of the year as maximum sustained surface winds reached 75 mph as it remained roughly 300 miles off the Nicaraguan coast. By last Thursday morning Otto had intensified to become a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale before making landfall on the southern Nicaraguan coast near the town of San Juan de Nicaragua during the early afternoon. After landfall Otto weakened to a tropical storm as of mid Thursday evening. Moving westward across Nicaragua and Costa Rica, Otto produced torrential rainfall that resulted in flooding across these two countries with a loss of at least nine lives. [CNN] Early Friday morning emerged as a tropical storm from Costa Rica and out over the waters of the eastern North Pacific. According to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, Otto was the fifth named tropical cyclone on record to have crossed from the Atlantic to the eastern North Pacific. [The Weather Channel] On Saturday morning Otto was downgraded to a tropical depression as it was located nearly 700 miles to the west-southwest of Liberia, Costa Rica. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite images on Hurricane Otto.
In the western North Pacific basin, a tropical depression formed late last week over the Leyte Gulf just to the east of the Philippine Islands. Traveling toward the west-northwest west across the central Philippine Islands, this tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Tokage. Over the past weekend Tokage curved toward the northwest and then to the north-northeast as moved out across the South China Sea. As of early Monday (local time), Tropical Storm Tokage was located approximately 230 miles to the northwest of Manila. Philippines. Forecasts indicate that Tokage would travel westward across the South China Sea before dissipating on Tuesday near the Paracel Islands.
Australian tropical cyclone season outlook issued -- Forecasters at the Australian Government's Bureau of Meteorology recently released an outlook for the upcoming 2016-17 Australian tropical cyclone season that typically begins in November and runs through April. These forecasters foresee an above-average tropical cyclone activity in the five regions that surround that continent, with the best chances for the above-average numbers of tropical cyclones being in the Australian region in the south central section of the country (with a 67- percent chance) and the Northwestern sub-region (63-percent chance). Their outlook for a more active season is based upon a transition from ENSO-neutral to weak La Niña conditions across the tropical Pacific Ocean, together with warmer than average ocean waters located to the north and east of Australia. Typically, the waters around Australia experience more tropical cyclones during La Niña events. [Australian Bureau of Meteorology]
Annual International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas meeting -- The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) issued a press release early last week at the conclusion of its annual meeting in Vilamoura, Portugal between 14 to 21 November 2016. As a result of this meeting, 19 new recommendations and five resolutions were approved covering a number of issues related to species that included albacore, yellowfin, bigeye tunas, swordfish, sharks and sailfish. Catch limits for the Mediterranean swordfish and the Atlantic blue shark were adopted for the first time. ICCAT is responsible for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. The organization was established at a Conference of Plenipotentiaries, which prepared and adopted the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. [ICCAT]
National coastal ocean aquaculture geospatial data layer is unveiled -- NOAA's Office for Coastal Management and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) have recently produced the first edition of the national coastal ocean aquaculture geospatial data layer on the MarineCadastre.gov, an integrated marine information system that provides data, tools, and technical support for ocean and Great Lakes planning. The current coastal aquaculture project involved the compilation of aquaculture date from 15 coastal states, followed by the standardization of these data into three categories: shellfish lease, finfish lease, and other [crustaceans, algae]. The public is invited to check the new site, taking a tour of coastal aquaculture at selected locations in Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound. [NOAA NCCOS News]
Sea to Shining Sea Award for 2016 is announced -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently announced that it has awarded its Sea to Shining Sea Award for Excellence in Interpretation and Education for 2016 to Carolyn Skinder, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's southern region program coordinator for Public Engagement in Wildlife Viewing. The award is presented to employees, contractors and volunteers of the National Marine Sanctuaries in recognition of demonstrated successes in advancing ocean and climate literacy and conservation through national marine sanctuaries. Carolyn Skinder was recognized for her efforts to improve the visitor experience at viewing the northern elephant seals that crowd the beach along California's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
Stranded humpback whale meets an untimely end on a Long Island beach -- At the start of last week (Sunday 20 November), a baby humpback whale was stranded in Moriches Bay, lagoon system on the south shore of Long Island, New York. After several days, a veterinary team from NOAA, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, and North Carolina State University reported that the whale had to be euthanized after concluding that the chance of its survival in the wild was minimal due to physical condition: [NOAA News]
Ocean acidification shown to be a two-front assault on coral reefs -- A team of scientists from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) and Australia have been studying coral reefs in the waters of the southwestern Pacific Ocean near Papua, New Guinea that have acidified by high levels of carbon dioxide from local volcanic activity report. During the two-year study, the scientists used micro-CT scans and specialized software to study the coral skeletons, measuring a net loss of coral reef skeletons due to increased bio-erosion by worms and other organisms. The scientists conclude that "ocean acidification is a two-front assault on coral reefs, simultaneously slowing the growth of skeleton, and speeding up the rate at which old reef habitats are eroded." [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]
Human-caused carbon dioxide emissions linked to dissolving of sea snail shells off West Coast -- A team of scientists from the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, the University of Washington, Oregon State University, the University of California Davis and the University of South Florida recently reported finding a connection between the concentration of human-caused carbon dioxide dissolved in waters off the US Pacific Coast and the to the dissolving of shells of "pteropods", or microscopic marine sea snails. The researchers estimated that carbon dioxide concentrations from fossil fuel emissions comprise as much as 60 percent of the carbon dioxide that enriches most West Coast near-shore surface waters, although concentrations drop with depth. They based their findings upon analysis of pteropods shells collected during West Coast research cruises in the years between 2007 and 2013. Pteropods are a major part of the diet of commercially valuable fish such as salmon, sablefish and rock sole. [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]
Sediment swirl looks like algae bloom from a satellite -- A natural-color image made by the MODIS sensor onboard NASA's Aqua satellite of South Australia's Spencer Gulf in mid-November shows milky-colored waters that initially appeared to be an algae bloom in the surface waters, but upon further review were interpreted to be sediments that were in the Gulf due to the convergence of two tides. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Review of October 2016 global temperatures and sea ice cover -- Preliminary data analyzed by scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) indicated that the global combined land and ocean average surface temperature for the October 2016 was 1.31 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century average (1901-2000) for the month. Therefore, last month's global combined temperature tied the temperature for October 2003 for being the third highest October temperature since global temperature records began in 1880. When considered separately, the monthly average temperature over the global oceans for October 2016 was 1.30 Fahrenheit degrees above average, the second highest October ocean temperature in 137 years of record. The monthly average temperature of the land surface for this recently concluded month was 1.37 Fahrenheit degrees above average, which represented the 16th highest October land surface temperature on record. The global combined temperature for October 2016 was 0.47 Fahrenheit degrees lower than the record high global temperature for the previous year (October 2015) when a major El Niño event was peaking, with large-scale warming of the eastern and central equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Although October temperatures had dropped slightly, when considering the combined land-ocean global temperature for the year to date (January-October 2016), this temperature was the highest global temperature for the first ten months of any year since 1880, exceeding the previous record high temperature for the corresponding ten-month interval set only one year ago by 0.18 Fahrenheit degrees. [NOAA/NCEI State of the Climate]
A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for October 2016 is available from NCEI.
According to satellite data collected by National Snow and Ice Data Center, the sea ice over the Arctic Ocean during October 2016 was the smallest areal extent for any October since satellite-derived ice records began in 1979. The sea ice around Antarctica was the second smallest October ice extent in the last 38 years. Globally, the sea ice extents in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere was the smallest October global sea ice extent on record. [NOAA/NCEI Global Snow & Ice]
New insights into global warming trends are provided -- A research paper was recently published by a team of scientists from the University of Delaware, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and several other institutions addressed the phenomenon that has been referred to as the "global warming hiatus" in which a temporary slowdown in the global average surface temperature warming trend was observed between 1998 and 2013. The researchers discussed a new understanding of this phenomenon, concluding the phenomenon represented a redistribution of energy within the Earth system, with Earth's ocean absorbing the extra heat. They also noted that "the rate of global surface warming can fluctuate due to natural variations in the climate system over periods of a decade or so." Furthermore, they called for continued support of current and future technologies for ocean monitoring to reduce observation errors in sea surface temperature and ocean heat content. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Feature]
United Nations climate change conference adjourns with promise of continued action -- The twenty-second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22), the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12), and the first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 1) were held recently in Bab Ighli, Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016. The Conference appears to be successful in that a constructive spirit of multilateral cooperation on climate change continues with participating countries presenting a united front with a pledge to forge ahead in the fight against climate change. They also issued a call to President-elect Donald Trump to join them. While climate finance remained an unresolved issue, nearly 200 countries have agreed to develop an emissions reduction rule book by 2018 and 47 of world’s poorest countries pledged to meet all their domestic energy needs from renewables as rapidly as possible. Big emitters such as Britain and Australia ratified the Paris Agreement during COP22, bringing the total to 111 countries with 77 percent of world’s emissions now officially backing the deal. [United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change COP22]
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: Climate Feedback Processes

Earth's climate system includes many interacting variables. Some variables are external to the Earth-atmosphere system and some are internal. External variables include solar energy output and Earth-sun geometry (i.e., the Milankovitch cycles). Internal variables include properties of the Earth's surface (e.g., albedo, moisture), the concentration of key atmospheric components (e.g., greenhouse gases, sulfurous aerosols), and cloud cover and thickness.

An important consideration in understanding how Earth's climate system responds to some perturbation is feedback. Feedback is defined as a sequence of interactions among variables in a system that determines how the system responds to some initial perturbation in one or more of the variables. Variables in Earth's climate system may interact in such a way as to either amplify (positive feedback) or lessen (negative feedback) a change in climate. An example of positive feedback is the ice-albedo effect described in Chapter 12 of the AMS Ocean Studies textbook. Less ice cover in the Arctic greatly reduces the albedo of the Arctic Ocean causing higher sea surface temperatures and accelerated melting of the multiyear pack ice.

Consider an example of negative feedback. Increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide enhances the greenhouse effect causing global warming. Global warming in turn raises sea surface temperatures and increases the rate of evaporation. A more humid atmosphere means more persistent and thicker cloud cover but clouds have both a cooling and warming effect on the lower atmosphere. The relatively high albedo of cloud tops causes cooling whereas absorption and emission of infrared radiation by clouds causes warming by contributing to the greenhouse effect. Satellite measurements and numerical models indicate that cooling would dominate.

In general, negative feedback tends to dominate over positive feedback in Earth's climate system, limiting the magnitude of climate change. The great thermal inertia of the ocean is the principal reason for dampening the planetary temperature response.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Feedback in Earth's climate system that amplifies climate change is described as [(positive)(negative)] feedback.
In general, [(negative)(positive)] feedback tends to prevail in Earth's climate system.

Historical Events:

28 November 1520...Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the treacherous South American strait that now bears his name in a 38-day passage. He was the first European to sail into the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic to the east. (The History Channel)
28 November 1960...A severe storm produced waves 20 to 40 feet high on Lake Superior. Duluth, MN was buried under a foot of snow, and clocked wind gusts to 73 mph. The northern shore of Lake Superior was flooded, and property along the shore was battered. Thousands of cords of pulpwood were washed into Lake Superior, and up to three feet of water flooded the main street of Grand Marais. Thunder accompanied the "nor'easter". (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
30 November 1925...An extremely rare late November hurricane began to affect the west coast of Florida as it strengthened during the day. The storm made landfall very early on 1 December south of Tampa Bay, weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed central Florida, and exited around St. Augustine. The storm regained Hurricane strength off Jacksonville late on the 1st. Heavy rain continued over northeast Florida on the 2nd. Gale force winds were reported from the Keys to Jacksonville and over 50 people lost their lives, mostly on ships at sea. Damage along the coast south of Jacksonville was heavy and excessive rain and wind seriously damaged citrus and truck crops. (National Weather Service files)
1 December 1969...Ocean swells generated by a storm more than 1000 miles to the north-northwest of the French Frigate Shoals produced 50-foot high surf along the outer shoals of Tern Island, submerging the 300-foot wide island under two to three feet of water. The 19-member Coast Guard contingent was evacuated, but considerable damage was done to buildings. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
1 December 1990...Workers from the United Kingdom and France on the Channel Tunnel construction project met approximately 120 feet beneath the English Channel seabed, to establish the first ground connection between the British Isles and mainland Europe since the last Ice Age. (Wikipedia)
2 December 1755...The second Eddystone Lighthouse near Plymouth, England was destroyed by fire. This light had replaced an earlier light that had been destroyed in the "Great 1703 Storm." The current structure is the fourth light to be constructed at that site. (Wikipedia)
3 December 1905...On this date the U.S. Weather Bureau received its first weather report from a ship at sea via wireless. (National Weather Service files)
3 December 1952...A remarkable display of sea smoke was seen in Hong Kong harbor. The sea-smoke, induced by a strong surge of arctic air, poured from the water of Kowloon Bay from 8 AM to 9:30 AM. The air temperature near the sea wall was 44 degrees F. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
3 December 1992...The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea carrying 80,000 tons of crude oil ran aground in a storm while approaching La Coruña, Spain, spilling much of its cargo. (Wikipedia)
3 December 1999...After rowing for 81 days and 2962 miles, Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone when she reached Guadeloupe after departing from the Canary Islands. (Wikipedia)
4 December 1786...The first of two great early December storms began. The storm produced high seas at Nantucket that did great damage. (David Ludlum)
4 December 1887...Tropical storms and hurricanes are very rare in December in the Atlantic. However, on this date not one but two tropical systems existed. One was dissipating after having been a Category 1 hurricane over the eastern Bahamas between 29 and 30 November. The other was just being born and would become a Category 1 hurricane over the open North Atlantic on 7 and 8 December. (National Weather Service files)
4-13 December 1991...Tropical Cyclone Val with gusts to 150 mph caused $700 million damage. Seventeen deaths were reported in American and Western Samoa, with 95 percent of the houses in Savaii either destroyed or badly damaged. Savaii was essentially hit twice by Val as the system completed a loop on the 8^th. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
4 December 2003...A tropical depression became Tropical Storm Odette in the Caribbean well south of Kingston, Jamaica, becoming the first December tropical storm of record to form in the Caribbean Sea. Odette made landfall on near Cabo Falso, Dominican Republic on 6 December, causing eight deaths and destroying 35 percent of the banana crop. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)