Tag Archives: pacific ocean

Could a Hurricane Ever Strike Southern California?

By Guest PostOctober 19, 2012Environmentalaska current, america, annual, atlantic, bill patzert, california, california current, californians, climatologist, current flow, drought, earthquake, eastern pacific, el niño, fire, flood, four seasons, fuel, gale force, godzilla, goes 9, golden state, gulf coaster, hurricane, hurricane capital, hurricane john, hurricane linda, Japan, kathleen, maximum temperature, mother nature, noaa, nora, north pacific, northern baja california, northern hemisphere, old adage, pacific decadal oscillation, pacific hurricanes, pacific ocean, pdo, quakes, rain, rainfall, rancho cucamonga, ropical storm, santa ana, satellite, southern california, southern californians, summer, thunderstorm, tropical cyclone, united states, us east, water budget, wind

There’s an old adage (with several variations) that California has four seasons: earthquake, fire, flood and drought. While Californians happily cede the title of Hurricane Capital of America to U.S. East and Gulf coasters, every once in a while, Mother Nature sends a reminder to Southern Californians that they are not completely immune to the whims of tropical cyclones. Typically, this takes the form of rainfall from the remnants of a tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific, as happened recently when the remnants of Hurricane John brought rain and thunderstorms to parts of Southern California. But could a hurricane ever make landfall in Southern California?

The answer, as it turns out, is yes, and no. While there has never been a documented case of a hurricane making landfall in California, the Golden State has had its share of run-ins and close calls with tropical cyclones. In fact, California has been affected by at least a few tropical cyclones in every decade since 1900. Over that timeframe, three of those storms brought gale-force winds to California: an unnamed California tropical storm in 1939, Kathleen in 1976 and Nora in 1997. But the primary threat from California tropical cyclones isn’t winds or storm surge. It’s rainfall — sometimes torrential — which has led to flooding, damage and, occasionally, casualties. (more…)

CU Mathematicians Show How Shallow Waves May Help Explain Tsunami Power

By Guest PostSeptember 19, 2012Scienceboulder, colorado, douglas baldwin, earthquake, interaction height, Japan, los angeles, low tide, mark ablowitz, mathematical equation, Mexico, nonlinear, nonlinearity, nuevo vallarta, ocean wave, pacific ocean, physics, tsunami, university, venice beach, wave height, wave watching

While wave watching is a favorite pastime of beachgoers, few notice what is happening in the shallowest water. A closer look by two University of Colorado Boulder applied mathematicians has led to the discovery of interacting X- and Y-shaped ocean waves that may help explain why some tsunamis are able to wreak so much havoc.

Professor Mark Ablowitz and doctoral student Douglas Baldwin repeatedly observed such wave interactions in ankle-deep water at both Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, and Venice Beach, Calif., in the Pacific Ocean — interactions that were thought to be very rare but which actually happen every day near low tide. There they saw single, straight waves interacting with each other to form X- and Y-shaped waves as well as more complex wave structures, all predicted by mathematical equations, said Ablowitz. (more…)

New Book Explores Noah’s Flood; Says Bible and Science Can Get Along

By Guest PostAugust 14, 2012Culture, Sciencebiblical book, catastrophic deluge, christians, creationism, dam in montana, david montgomery, eastern washington, false dichotomy, galileo galilei, genesis, geological evidence, geological processes, geologist, geomorphologist, glacial lake, global flood, grand canyon, landscape, mesopotamia, mesopotamian stories, missoula, mountaintop, native american, nicolas steno, noah, noahs flood, pacific ocean, regional flood, religious belief, rocks dont lie, roman catholic, scientific reason, st augustine, tibetan plateau, topography, tsangpo river

“I doubt the historic truth about Noah’s Flood will ever be known with certainty. And I don’t think it really matters. The discoveries of science have revealed the world and our universe to be far more spectacular than could have been imagined by Mesopotamian minds. To still see the world through their eyes is to minimize the wonder of creation.”

David Montgomery, “The Rocks Don’t Lie”

David Montgomery is a geomorphologist, a geologist who studies changes to topography over time and how geological processes shape landscapes. He has seen firsthand evidence of how the forces that have shaped Earth run counter to some significant religious beliefs.

But the idea that scientific reason and religious faith are somehow at odds with each other, he said, “is, in my view, a false dichotomy.” (more…)

Global Sea Level Likely to Rise as Much as 70 Feet in Future Generations

By Guest PostMarch 22, 2012Environmentandrew kulpecz, atmosphere, atmospheric temperature, core, degrees celsius, earth, east antarctic, eniwetok atoll, future generation, global warming, greenland, humankind, ice sheets, james browning, james wright, kenneth miller, michelle kominz, mountain glaciers, new zealand, pacific ocean, partial melting, richard lane, rise of sea level, rock, Rutgers University, sea level, sindia sosdian, virginia, west antarctic, yair rosenthal

*Scientists looked back in time–in the geologic record–to see the future*

Even if humankind manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit)–as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends–future generations will likely have to deal with a completely different world.

One with sea levels 40 to 70 feet higher than at present, according to research results published this week in the journal Geology. (more…)

Sailing in a Sea of Microbes

By Guest PostMarch 4, 2012Sciencealgae, Arctic, atmospheric chemistry, bacteria, biogeochemical cycles, biomass, carbon dioxide, Chile, climate, daniel stolte, easter island, Environment, food production, genome, Germany, global warming, grassroots initiative, greenhouse gas, matt sullivan, melissa duhaime, microbe, ocean water, oceans, oxygen production, pacific ocean, research vessel, saguaro cacti, sequence, tara oceans, ua, university of arizona, wolves, world of viruses, world of webs

Researchers led by Matt Sullivan at the UA are among the first to dive into the world of viruses drifting through the world’s oceans.

Surrounded by the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean stretching from horizon to horizon, a lonely dot is glinting in the sun. It is the aluminum hull of a sailboat, a 118-foot schooner with white sails billowing from two masts.

On the deck, crewmembers and scientists are milling about. Commands are flying back and forth, and soon a strange contraption consisting of tubes clustered around an array of sensors dangling from a crane is lowered into the water, until it disappears in the clear blue depths. (more…)

NASA Sees Repeating La Niña Hitting its Peak

By Guest PostJanuary 20, 2012Environmentamerican southwest, bill patzert, climate, cnes, colorado river, diva of drought, dry years, el niño, equatorial pacific, factors, jason 1, jason 2, jason altimetric satellites, la niña, NASA, near normal, ocean temperature, pacific northwest, pacific ocean, pacific sea surface, satellite, sea surface height, south america, southern california, stormy weather, united states, watershed

La Niña, “the diva of drought,” is peaking, increasing the odds that the Pacific Northwest will have more stormy weather this winter and spring, while the southwestern and southern United States will be dry.

Sea surface height data from NASA’s Jason-1 and -2 satellites show that the milder repeat of last year’s strong La Niña has recently intensified, as seen in the latest Jason-2 image of the Pacific Ocean, available at: https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/images/ostm/20120108P1.jpg. (more…)

Evidence Emerges of Ancient Lake in California’s Eel River

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Environment, Scienceairborne light detection and ranging, ancient landslide, benjamin mackey, california institute of technology, catastrophic landslide, dam burst, diverse phenomena, ecological changes, eel river, gene flow, genetic introgression, genetic trajectories, genetics of steelhead trout in the eel river, geological history, global positioning systems, gps, humboldt county, interbreeding, joshua roering, lakebed, late pleistocene, lidar, michael lamb, modern landslide hazard, mountainous region, national science foundation, northern california, pacific ocean, paul cutler, populations, remote sensing technology, steelhead trout, university of oregon

*Ecological changes from lakebed may have led to two different populations of once-related steelhead trout*

A catastrophic landslide 22,500 years ago dammed the upper reaches of northern California’s Eel River, forming a 30-mile-long lake which has since disappeared. It left a living legacy found today in the genes of the region’s steelhead trout.

Using remote-sensing technology known as airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hand-held global-positioning-systems (GPS) units, scientists recently found evidence for a late Pleistocene, landslide-dammed lake along the river. (more…)

UFO for American Presidents

By PravdaJune 18, 2011Culture, Science Fictionaircraft carrier, bakersfield, cia agent, dwight eisenhower, et the extra terrestrial, extraterrestrial intelligence, flying saucers, franklin roosevelt, gerald haines, gulf of mexico, norman miller, oklahoma resident, oval office, pacific ocean, president carter, president harry s truman, richard nixon, robert landry, ronald reagan, sherry eckhardt, steven spielberg, ufo, ufo sightings, ufology, unidentified flying objects, united states, us presidents, Washington, White House

Many U.S. presidents during their terms were seriously interested in UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence issues, and some of them even had a chance to make contact with aliens. We turn to the recently declassified archives of ufology. Let’s start with 1948, when President Harry S. Truman summoned his Assistant Robert Landry to the Oval Office.

Truman gave him the order to make reports every three months on the flying saucers observed over the country. Once, Truman asked to investigate the case of the appearance of mysterious object over Washington that he observed through his window. (more…)