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| How to forecast a tsunami?
Innovations report, 2 June 2006 Mathematicians from Novosibirsk and
Krasnoyarsk, working on a joint project with American colleagues
(sponsored by the CRDF and the Federal Agency for Science and
Innovations (Rosnauka)) have improved the tsunami forecasting system.
To this end, they applied the method of the so-called circulation of
tsunami data obtained in a real-time mode. This newest method is based
on the latest results achieved by researchers in the theory and
numerical algorithms of inverse problem solution. Arctic: Ocean-drilling scientists cite history of Arctic climate change Innovations report, 1 June 2006 A group of ocean-drilling research
scientists that explored the Arctic Ocean subseafloor in Fall 2004 have
released new findings in a report to be published in Nature on June 1.
The report, supported by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP)
research operations, contains analyses of subseafloor sediment samples
gathered from 430 meters beneath the Arctic Ocean, near the North Pole.
To recover the sediments that yielded the prehistoric climate records,
the research team needed to manage three ice-breakers, one of which was
equipped with a drill rig. The sediment records were recovered from the
Lomonsov Ridge, in water about 1000 meters deep. Arctic: Studies Portray Tropical Arctic in Distant Past New York Times, 1 June 2006 The first detailed analysis of an extraordinary climatic and biological record from the seabed near the North Pole shows that 55 million years ago the Arctic Ocean was much warmer than scientists imagined — a Floridian year-round average of 74 degrees. The findings, published today in three papers in the journal Nature, fill in a blank spot in scientists' understanding of climate history. And while they show that much remains to be learned about climate change, they suggest that scientists have greatly underestimated the power of heat-trapping gases to warm the Arctic. Global warming worry flows from Arctic ice to tropical waters USA Today, 30 May 2006 Global warming is a direct threat to the survival of the Maldives, 80% of which sits less than 3 feet above sea level and is vulnerable to rising waters as polar ice melts. "A catastrophe in the making," the Maldives government said in a 2003 report on the impact of climate change. David King, the British government's chief scientific adviser, raised eyebrows two years ago when he warned that climate change posed a bigger global threat than terrorism. But there's no question that rising temperatures are poised to change life as we know it. In less than 100 years, the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer, which would allow ships to take the polar route from Europe to Asia, say the Canadian Ice Service and the U.S. Navy. At current rates, 75% of glaciers in the Swiss Alps and two-thirds of those in China will melt by 2050, according to separate studies by the European Environment Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A Churning Ring of Fire By Andrew Rice Posted Sunday, May 28, 2006, at 6:00 AM ET Yesterday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia, which killed at least 3,500 people, is the lead story in the Washington Post. The quake is also the off-lead in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, and both papers give over much of their above-the-fold space to large, striking photos of the devastation it wreaked. The NYT's lead story is an analytical piece about the growing power of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The LAT leads locally, with a poll showing two Democrats running neck-and-neck in a primary contest to choose a challenger to California's increasingly weak incumbent governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The earthquake struck the island of Java at 5:54 a.m., when most people were fast asleep. It leveled buildings, damaged bridges and roads, and left many thousands sleeping in the open air last night. The initial death toll is expected to rise. Hardest-hit was the town of Bantul, where at least 2,093 people died, according to the LAT. Also "ravaged," according to the NYT, was Yogyakarta, a city of half a million and "the cultural center of Java." India/Japan: India, Japan to cooperate in Malacca Straits security India eNews, 26 May 2006 India and Japan Friday decided to enhance cooperation in the maritime security of the Malacca Straits and the Indian Ocean region by tackling trans-national crimes like piracy, human trafficking and smuggling of arms and drugs.n n’We do feel that in order to ensure maritime security in the Indian Ocean and the Malacca Straits, cooperation between India and Japan will be helpful,’ Indian Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at a news conference at the National Press Centre here on the second day of his four-day visit to Japan. nHis remarks came after a meeting with Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kazuo Kitagawa. nDuring the meeting, the two countries agreed to cooperate in search and rescue operations and in the protection of the marine environment. United States: Scientists detail signs of Arctic warming News Miner, 25 May 2006 Sam Bishop WASHINGTON--Scientists described thinning sea ice, warming permafrost, expanding shrubs on the tundra and other signs of Arctic warming for an audience in a U.S. Senate hearing room on Tuesday, then encouraged congressional staff to call when they need information on the subject. "There isn't a scientist I know who isn't pleased to answer questions," said Matthew Sturm, a researcher at the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Fairbanks. Sturm and three scientists from universities around the country offered to share basic information with members of Congress who are puzzling through what policies the federal government should adopt in response to the warming. United States: More salmon reported in Arctic Ocean Anchorage Daily News, 21 May 2006 In recent years, however, salmon have seemed to turn up more and more in an odd place - the Arctic Ocean, which laps the top of the state. Just ask Dora Nukapigak, cultural coordinator for the North Slope village of Nuiqsut. She's sure villagers who have long caught fish such as Arctic cisco, grayling and char as part of a subsistence lifestyle also are bagging more salmon, including king salmon - the biggest of the five Pacific salmon species - and small pink salmon. Somolia: Fighting Red Sea Piracy requires peace in Somalia News Yemen, 19 May 2006 The government of Yemen believes that piracy and armed attacks against ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden is coherent to the miserable situation in Somalia. But it said "the problem can be solved through doubling efforts of all countries in the region and the international community." In Yemen's speech to the 81st round of the Marine Safety Commission being held in London, the executive director of the General Marine Affairs Authority Khalid Ibrahim al-Wazeer said the Yemen is contacting with the regional countries to appoint a meeting in October in order to sign an understanding memo pertaining to the marine safety and fighting see piracy against ships. Canada: Tracking climate change on the ground Nunatsiaq News, 19 May 2006 Arctic college program seeks more students to track climate change. “Climate change” is a term that finds its way into the media and scientific literature very easily these days, and doomsday pictures are drawn by many. What people tend to forget is that scientists draw these predictions using computer models, and to do that, they need raw data from the ground. Canada: Scientists note stunning loss of Arctic ice, snow CBC, 19 May 2006 Climatologists studying satellite weather maps say they're amazed and alarmed by how quickly spring is coming to the Arctic this year.
Record warm temperatures have significantly reduced ice cover in Canada's Arctic waters and snow cover on land. "I've never seen it so wide open this time of year," said Environment Canada's David Phillips, referring to the body of water between Baffin Island and mainland Quebec. "It's just blue, blue as the bluest sky." United States: Texas submarine returns from sea trials The Boston Globe, 17 May 2006 NEWPORT NEWS, Va. --The first submarine to get its final assembly at Northrop Grumman's Newport News shipyard in 10 years returned Wednesday from successful initial sea trials to test its performance. In two days of trials, the Texas submarine was brought up to speeds of faster than 25 knots, dove deeper than 800 feet twice, turned sharply and stopped quickly, officials said. "We made sure than everything worked as advertised, and she responded," Navy Capt. John Litherland, the Texas' commanding officer, said after the sub returned to the Newport News yard. India: Government to set up National Maritime University New Kerala, 16 May 2006 New Delhi: The Government has decided to set up a national-level Maritime University to promote maritime education and research and bridge the critical gap between the needs of the industry and the academic community. Disclosing this after giving away National Awards for Excellence in Research in the Maritime Sector here today, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Thiru T. R. Baalu said that fund constraint would not exist for projects involving research in this sector. He urged scientists to identify some of the important challenges facing the maritime institutions and take them up for viable solutions with the help of the Government, if necessary. New Zealand: Major quake rocks Pacific near Kermadec Islands Mail & Guardian, 16 May 2006 A magnitude 7,4 earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of the Kermadec Islands, at 10.39am GMT on Tuesday, the United States Geological Survey reported on its website. The quake -- which hit at a depth of 148km -- was located some 290km south, south-west of Raoul Island, in the Kermadec Islands chain. The Kermadecs, some 810km north-east of Auckland, are New Zealand's northernmost territory and one of the most active sites in the world for earthquakes caused by tectonic plate movement. Pacific: Pacific states hold tsunami test BBC, 17 May 2006 More than 30 countries around the Pacific Ocean have tested a system to warn them of approaching tsunamis. The exercise began with a mock alert at the Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii. According to the scenario, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake had struck near the coast of Chile, sending a tsunami racing across the eastern Pacific. |
