DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK FIVE: 20-24 February 2012

Ocean in the News

• Eye on the tropics --- During the last week several tropical cyclones were found across the South Indian and North Pacific basins:
  • In the South Indian basin, Cyclone Giovanna remained a strong category three or four tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale into early last week as it approached Madagascar. This system weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed Madagascar. After moving over the Mozambique Channel, Giovanna turned to the south and traveled off the Madagascar coast through the rest of the week. As this tropical storm moved into the South Indian Ocean early Sunday (local time), it re-intensified to a category 1 tropical cyclone. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information on Cyclone Giovanna.
    Another tropical cyclone that had the strength of a weak tropical storm formed over the waters early last week west of the Cocos Islands. This minimal tropical storm, which identified as Tropical Storm 13, traveled to the west-southwest through most of the week. On Saturday, it began to dissipate southeast of Diego Garcia. Additional information along with satellite images can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
  • In the North Pacific basin, a tropical depression identified as Tropical Depression 1 formed over the waters of the South China Sea to the southwest of the Philippines last Saturday. However, this tropical depression was relatively short lived, dissipating in less than 18 hours..
• NOAA Administrator comments on NOAA's budget request for next fiscal year -- Early last week, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator provided a statement, along with supporting slides, of her agency's request as part of the Obama's federal budget for Fiscal Year 2013. This proposed budget, NOAA is requesting $5.1 billion, an increase of $153.9M over this year's estimate, for its mission to "(1) provide immediate life-saving and job-supporting services needed to prepare and protect American communities and infrastructure and (2) invest in science and research that will enhance America's competitiveness." [NOAA News]
• Review of global weather and climate for January 2011 -- Using preliminary data collected from the global network of surface weather stations, scientists at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center have determined that the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for January 2012 was the nineteenth highest for any January since global climate records began in 1880. The average global ocean surface temperature for January was the seventeenth highest on record, while the global land surface temperature for January 2012 was 28th highest. The scientists claim that the moderate La Niña conditions that continued through the month were responsible for below average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial surface waters of the eastern and central Pacific.
  The areal coverage of Arctic sea ice was the fourth smallest January Arctic sea ice extent since satellite surveillance began in 1979. The extent of Antarctic sea ice was the seventh largest January extent on record.
  While the extent of the Northern Hemisphere snow cover during January was slightly above the long-term average for the period of record that started in the late 1960s, the January snow cover across North America was the fourth smallest on record. [State of the Climate/NCDC]
• Environmental impact of changes in ocean microbes is unclear -- Scientists at Oregon State University report that although ocean microbes appear to be changing in response to the warming of the oceans in response to increased global temperatures, the lack of adequate ocean monitoring and agreement on how to assess microbial diversity has made reaching a consensus on future environmental impacts on these microbes difficult. [Oregon State University]
• Mother of pearl used as indicator of ocean temperature and depth ....-- Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has found that nacre or mother of pearl made by several mollusk species can be used to determine the temperature and depth of the ocean waters in which the material was formed. This discovery could help paleoscientists more accurately reconstruct a global record of ancient environments and environmental change extending back over the last 450 million years. [University of Wisconsin-Madison News]
• Local Climatological Data can be obtained for no charge -- NOAA's National Climatic Data Center recently announced that its publication Local Climatological Data (LCD) would be made available online to the public for no charge. This publication, which contains 12 monthly issues along with an annual summary, is available for 278 climate stations around the nation, along with nine stations on Pacific Islands administered by the US. Some stations have LCDs commencing in the 1940s. The pdf version of the LCD, Annual Summary with Comparative Data is a very instructive document that can be used to help visualize the local climate of many locations around the nation.
• 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, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes --
A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek --
Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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.

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. If the ocean's pack ice cover were to shrink, the ocean would absorb [(more)(less)] solar radiation.
2. All other factors being equal, if sea surface temperatures were to rise, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolved in surface ocean waters would likely [(increase) (decrease)].

Historical Events

• 20 February 1823...English Captain James Weddell and the brig Jane reached 74 deg 15 min S, or 940 mi (1520 km) from the South Pole. His voyage reached farther south than anyone had ventured until the 1850s, as it was 214 mi south of the latitude that Captain James Cook had sailed.
• 20 February 1835...While in Chile, Charles Darwin experienced a strong earthquake and shortly thereafter saw evidence of uplift in the region. From measurements, he determined that the land rose several feet, and later hypothesized that coral reefs in the Pacific could develop along margins of subsiding landmasses. (Today in Science History)
• 20 February 1856...The John Rutledge, an American steamer that sailed from Liverpool, England for New York, hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Most of the 155 people onboard were lost.
• 21 February 1835...The HMS Beagle, along with Charles Darwin left Valdivia, Chile.
• 21 February 1907...During an exceptionally heavy gale, the British-owned mail ship Berlin hit dangerous shoals and broke up while attempting to navigate around the Hook of Holland in the English Channel. Only 14 on board survived, while 127 were killed or drowned.
• 22-26 February 1995...Cyclone Bobby slammed into the Western Australia coast causing widespread flooding. Some areas reported up to 12 in. of rain from the storm. (The Weather Doctor)
• 23 February 1802...A great snowstorm raged along the New England coast producing 48 inches of snow north of Boston and 54 inches of snow at Epping, NH. Three large (indiamen) ships from Salem were wrecked along Cape Cod by strong winds. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 24 February 1881...De Lesseps' Company began work on the Panama Canal
• 25 February 1977...An oil tanker explosion west of Honolulu spilled 31 million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean.
• 26 February 1935...Robert Watson-Watt demonstrated RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) for the first time, using the BBC shortwave radio transmitter to successfully detect the distance and direction of a flying bomber during the so-called Daventry Experiment.
• 26 February 1938...The first passenger ship was equipped with radar.

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Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2012, The American Meteorological Society.