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Posts Tagged ‘Atlantic Ocean’

Melting Arctic Ice Marks Possible Sea Change in Marine Ecosystems

June 27, 2011 Comments off

livescience

Arctic Sea Ice Extent in 2010
Arctic sea ice reached an abnormal low in summer 2010. Declines like this have made it possible for a long-lost species of plankton to return to the North Atlantic.
CREDIT: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

A single-celled alga that went extinct in the North Atlantic Ocean about 800,000 years ago has returned after drifting from the Pacific through the Arctic thanks to melting polar ice. And while its appearance marks the first trans-Arctic migration in modern times, scientists say it signals something potentially bigger.

“It is an indicator of rapid change and what might come if the Arctic continues to melt,” said Chris Reid, a professor of oceanography at the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science in the United Kingdom.

Arctic sea ice has been in decline for roughly three decades, and in several more recent summers, a passage has opened up between the Pacific and Atlantic. In as little as 30 years, Arctic summers are projected to Read more…

Categories: Arctic sea Tags: , , , ,

World’s Oceans In ‘Shocking’ Decline

June 21, 2011 Comments off

bbc

Coral and fishThe oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists.

In a new report, they warn that ocean life is “at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history”.

They conclude that issues such as over-fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together in ways that have not previously been recognised.

The impacts, they say, are already affecting humanity.

The panel was convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), and brought together experts from different disciplines, including coral reef ecologists, toxicologists, and fisheries scientists.

Its report will be formally released later this week.

“The findings are shocking,” said Alex Rogers, IPSO’s scientific director and professor of conservation biology at Oxford University.

“As we considered the cumulative effect of what humankind does to the oceans, the implications became far worse than we had individually realised.

“We’ve sat in one forum and spoken to Read more…

Categories: Earth changes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fierce forecast: Feds predict up to 10 Atlantic hurricanes in 2011

May 19, 2011 Comments off

usatoday

Federal forecasters Thursday called for an “above-normal” hurricane season this year. They predict anywhere from 12-18 named storms to form in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane Earl spins in the Atlantic Ocean last September. Although it didn't make landfall, Earl came the closest to hitting the USA of any 2010 hurricane.Hurricane Earl spins in the Atlantic Ocean last September. Although it didn’t make landfall, Earl came the closest to hitting the USA of any 2010 hurricane.

Of those named storms, six to 10 should become hurricanes, including three to six “major” hurricanes, with wind speeds above 111 mph.

Tropical storms are given a name when wind speeds reach 39 mph. They are upgraded to hurricane status when their sustained winds reach 74 mph. An average Atlantic hurricane season sees 11 named storms, including six hurricanes; two become major hurricanes.

Forecasters do not predict the number of storms that will make landfall.

Climate factors in this outlook include unusually warm Atlantic Ocean water and temperatures two degrees above average, reports Gerry Bell, lead seasonal forecaster at the Climate Prediction Center. Additionally, the impacts of the La Nina climate pattern, such as reduced wind shear, are expected to continue into the hurricane season.

“In addition to multiple climate factors, seasonal climate models also indicate an above-normal season is likely, and even suggest we could see activity comparable to some of the active seasons since 1995,” Bell said.

Since 1995, Bell says the Atlantic is in an era of increased hurricane activity. There are consistently favorable ocean and atmospheric conditions for storm formation.

Thursday’s NOAA forecast is similar to earlier predictions by researchers at Colorado State University and the AccuWeather commercial weather service. The Colorado State team, led by Read more…

Categories: Weather Tags: , , , , , ,

Rogue wave frequency increases

April 25, 2011 Comments off

santacruzsentinel

The Norwegian tanker Wilstar after being struck by a large wave in 1974. (Contributed photo)

The German container ship MS München left Bremerhaven, Germany, on a cold day in late 1978 headed for Savannah, Ga. On Dec. 12, the ship, two and a half football fields long and described as unsinkable, vanished after one unintelligible distress call.

All that was found in a wide search of the general area was some scattered debris and an unlaunched lifeboat that was originally secured on the deck 65 feet above the water line. Its attachment pins had been “twisted as though hit by an extreme force.” The best guess at the time was that the ship had been struck by a very large wave.

While seaman for many years have described huge waves or walls of water at sea, they weren’t usually given much credence until recently. Encounters with such large waves have become more frequent over the past 15 years or so, however, indicating that perhaps these weren’t all just sailor’s exaggerations or nightmares.

In February 1995, the Queen Elizabeth II encountered what was described as a 95-foot wall of water in the North Atlantic. The ship’s captain said it “came out of the darkness” and “looked like the White Cliffs of Dover.” He was able to determine the wave’s height because the crest was level with the ship’s bridge. The wave broke over the bow with explosive force and smashed many of the windows and part of its forward deck. That same year, an oil platform in the North Sea with a wave gauge measured a single rogue Read more…

Categories: Strange Events Tags: , , , , ,

Giant ocean whirlpools puzzle scientists

April 13, 2011 Comments off

pravda

US scientists discovered two giant whirlpools in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Guyana and Suriname. It became a sensational discovery because this part of the ocean has been studied thoroughly, and no one expected anything like that to appear in the area. More importantly, no one can understand where the whirlpools came from and what surprises they may bring to people.

According to Brazilian scientist Guilherme Castellane, the two funnels are approximately 400 kilometers in diameter. Until now, these were not known on Earth. The funnels reportedly exert a strong influence on climate changes that have been registered during the recent years.

“Funnels rotate clockwise. They are moving in the ocean like giant frisbees, two discs thrown into the air. Rotation occurs at a rate of one meter per second, the speed is Read more…

Categories: Oceans, Strange Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Forecasters expect 5 big hurricanes

April 8, 2011 Comments off

boston.com

Hurricane seasonAt least five major hurricanes with winds of more than 111 miles per hour are expected to develop in the Atlantic during the 2011 storm season, Colorado State University forecasters said yesterday.

Overall, some 16 named storms are likely, with nine of them reaching hurricane status — an above-average season, said the forecasters led by William Gray and Phil Klotzbach. The forecast reduces by one the group’s preliminary December outlook for 17 named storms.

There is a 72 percent chance that one of the major storms will strike the US coast, above the 52 percent average for the past century, they said, and a 47 percent chance of a Gulf Coast hit. The East Coast’s odds are 48 percent.

“We reduced the number of storms but our statistical models are still calling for an active Read more…

Categories: Weather Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Arctic meltwater could lower temperatures at home, study warns

April 6, 2011 Comments off

www.telegraph

Arctic meltwater could lower temperatures at home, study warns

A pool of melted ice water could move south towards Britain Photo: REX FEATURES

The pool, which has grown by more than a fifth over the last decade, could interrupt the flow of the Gulf Stream which brings warm water from the tropics, raising average European temperatures by between five and ten degrees Celsius.

Scientists are monitoring the large area of cold water amid fears that changing wind patterns could move it south towards the North Atlantic.

A study by 17 institutes from ten European countries warned that the effects of the melted ice could be abrupt in altering the balance of the Thermohaline Circulation, which keeps warmer waters flowing across the Atlantic.

One theory is that the circulation could slow down dramatically within two decades sending average temperatures plummeting.

The possibility echoes the plot of the 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, which depicted the catastrophic effects on world climates when the delicate balance maintained by ocean circulation is suddenly lost.

Scientists have also expressed concern on the environment should the pool of largely fresh water enter the Atlantic altering its salinity levels.

Laura de Steur, an oceanographer at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, who helped lead the study told The Times: “Large regional changes could be in store if the ocean circulation changes.”

But researchers have been unable to accurately predict if or when the pool with move southwards.

Categories: Arctic sea, Britain Tags: , , , , , ,

UA climate research: Big stretch of US coast at risk of rising seas

February 23, 2011 Comments off

azstarnet.com

If global temperatures continue to rise and polar ice continues to melt, 9 percent of the land in our coastal cities and towns will be beneath sea level by the end of the century, University of Arizona researchers say.

Climate researchers Jeremy Weiss and Jonathan Overpeck, along with Ben Strauss of Climate Central in Princeton, N.J., mapped the U.S. coastline, using elevations provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. They applied the most recent predictions of a sea level rise of 1 meter (3.28 feet) by 2100 to produce a map that predicts big trouble for 20 cities with more than 300,000 people and for 160 smaller municipalities.

Weiss is a senior researcher in geosciences. Overpeck is a professor of geosciences and atmospheric sciences and co-director of the UA’s Institute of the Environment.

The report was published last week in Climatic Change Letters.

The biggest impact will be felt in low-lying, heavily populated places such as New Orleans, Miami Beach and Virginia Beach, the report says.

Subsequent centuries will bring even higher sea levels that could completely submerge Read more…

Categories: Coming Events, Oceans, United States Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yellowstone supervolcano, new Ice Age could topple US government

February 9, 2011 Comments off

As evidence mounts that the world may fast be slipping into the next Ice Age, Washington insiders are hurrying to solidify a new power base for centralized government operations.

Fears that the US capital might be struck by another more deadly terrorist attack—or other disasters—prompted agencies a decade ago to hurriedly establish back-up operations in case catastrophe struck.

Despite the fact that many conspiracy theories are weaved around the subjects that follow—including some fairly wild-eyed, tin foil hat scenarios—most conspiracy theories have a basis in fact, although the facts are distorted or wildly exaggerated.

The actual story of the Denver airport, the nation’s “second capital,” the impending Ice Age possibility, and the threat the Yellowstone supervolcano presents to the people of the United States of America and their government follows: Read more…

Categories: Coming Events, Denver, United States, volcano Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Russian volcano activity causes global concern

February 9, 2011 1 comment

Now the world has something else to grip about when it comes to Russia – the weather.

A string of volcanoes on Russia’s eastern seaboard of Kamchatka have been unusually active for the last six months. The dust they threw up diverted winds in the Arctic, pushing cold air over Europe and North America and causing the unusually cold winter this year, say scientists.

The volcanoes (160 in total, of which 29 are active) are still on the go and could create more problems this year, depressing harvests around the world just as global food prices soar and Read more…

Categories: Russia, volcano, Weather Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,