A summary of environmental issues and findings: Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway

The enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) had a substantial influence on the manner in which the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (Tenn-Tom) was constructed The interdisciplinary approach, including a board of outside consultants functioning as environmental advisors, played a valuable role toward meeting the objectives of minimizing adverse impacts and maximizing the positive environmental aspects Several of the key environmental issues associated with the Tenn-Tom are addressed and the findings are presented impacts addressed include aquifer drawdown, waterlogging, water quality, interbasin transfer, mixing of species, endangered species, erosion, sedimentation, and loss of wildlife habitat Additional discussion is also presented to explain the findings and place the identified impacts into perspective While implementation of the Tenn-Tom involved losses and resource tradeoffs, measures have been incorporated into the project to mitigate for significant resource losses The evaluation, planning, and design process for the Tenn-Tom can serve as a model approach for compliance with NEPA and other environmental statutes     

A Case Study of Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar Signatures of Spatially Evolving Atmospheric Convection over the Western Atlantic Ocean

A case study of a particularly intense cold air outbreak over the northAtlantic Ocean extending from the northeast coast of the UnitedStates to the Gulf Stream is described. A RADARSAT satellite synthetic apertureradar (SAR) image of this outbreak dramatically illustrates the spatialevolution of convection. Nearly coincident images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Advanced Very HighResolution Radiometer are used to compare many interesting features.In addition, National Weather Service rawinsonde data, National Data Buoy Center buoy data, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Coastal Mixing and Optics mooring data arepresented. We use these data to help describe the spatial evolution of the atmospheric boundary-layer processes involved in this outbreak.Rows of cellular convective clouds begin to appear some distance offshore and then slowly increase in horizontal diameter and wavelength in the downwind direction, with a subsequent jump in cloud diameter downwind of the Gulf Stream North Wall (GSNW). The SAR image shows a similar evolution of sea-surface footprints of these boundary-layer features. This change in boundary-layer structure is attributed to corresponding changes in static stability. About 300 km south of the GSNW in the SAR image, an even larger jump in cell diameter appears and the cells becomenon-uniform with bright crescents and filled semi-circles on thedownwind sides of the cells. These are believed to be surface effectsof gust fronts induced by the mesoscale cellular convection and enhanced by the overall northwesterly flow.     

Correction to: Predicting surf zone injuries along the Delaware coast using a Bayesian network

Natural Hazards - The article was published with errors.     

Sexual reproduction and early life‐history traits of the Mediterranean soft coral Alcyonium acaule

Understanding processes that contribute to a better comprehension of the population dynamics of long‐lived species is critical for the maintenance and potential recovery of such species. Despite the abundance of soft corals in Mediterranean rocky reefs, little information exists on their life histories and reproductive patterns. In this study, we assessed the main reproductive characteristics and early life‐history traits of the long‐lived soft coral Alcyonium acaule. The sex ratio was 1:1; the smallest fertile colonies were one finger in size (2.1 ± 0.6 cm in height), and both colony and polyp fertility increased with colony size. Likewise, the number of eggs and spermary sacs per polyp increased significantly with colony size, whereas the diameter of the female and male sexual products did not. Over 6 years of observations (2007–2012), spawning occurred primarily in July, after the seawater reached 20 °C, in a single spawning episode per year. Approximately 80% of female colonies released eggs, which were retained on the surface of the mother colony by mucous strings for up to a few days. High fertilization rates were observed during spawning in 2008 and 2009 (94.9% and 87.0%, respectively). The timing of development was ~24 h for the blastulae, ~48–72 h for the planulae and 8–22 days for metamorphosis into primary polyps. Survivorship of planulae was relatively high (~50% at 45 days after release), but only 24% of larvae metamorphosed into primary polyps, and their survivorship was moderate after 2 months (65% in 2008 and 74% in 2009). Asexual reproduction was negligible, indicating that sexual reproduction is the main mechanism supporting the maintenance and recovery of populations.     

The meteorologically abnormal year of 2006 and natural disasters in the Philippines

In the early part of 2006 the Philippines was hit by a La Nina event which brought floods, flashfloods and landslides. The most significant event was the February 2006 landslide that covered the whole community of Guinsaugon, in Southern Leyte, resulting in 154 deaths with 973 people still missing. Another rare event was the simultaneous presence of two tropical cyclones inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility （PAR） in August-- Tropical Depression Bopha and Tropical Storm Saomai--that enhanced the southwest monsoon. With the strong winds and high waves associated with the southwest mon- soon, an oil tanker, the M/T Solar 1, sank, resulting in the worst oil spill the country has ever suffered. Lastly, with a weak El Nino phenomenon forming in the Pacific Ocean and affecting the Philippines, a destructive typhoon, Xangsane, made a multi-landfall before hitting Metropolitan Manila. This was followed by the landfall of three superty- phoons--Cimaron, Chebi and Durian--during the last quarter of the year, bringing tremendous destruction of life and property. The occurrence of these weather events are attributed to climate variability the effects of which were exacerbated by a range of factors that include inappropriate land use.     

Changes to the drivers of fire weather with a warming climate – a case study of southeast Tasmania

Projected changes to the global climate system have great implications for the incidence of large infrequent fires in many regions. Here we examine the synoptic-scale and local-scale influences on the incidence of extreme fire weather days and consider projections of the large-scale mean climate to explore future fire weather projections. We focus on a case study region with periodic extreme fire dangers; southeast Tasmania, Australia. We compare the performance of a dynamically downscaled regional climate model with Global Climate Model outputs as a tool for examining the local-scale influences while accounting for high regional variability. Many of the worst fires in Tasmania and the southeast Australian region are associated with deep cold fronts and strong prefrontal winds. The downscaled simulations reproduce this synoptic type with greater fidelity than a typical global climate model. The incidence of systems in this category is projected to increase through the century under a high emission scenario, driven mainly by an increase in the temperature of air masses, with little change in the strength of the systems. The regional climate model projected increase in frequency is smaller than for the global climate models used as input, with a large model range and natural variability. We also demonstrate how a blocking Foehn effect and topographic channelling contributed to the extreme conditions during an extreme fire weather day in Tasmania in January 2013. Effects such as these are likely to contribute to high fire danger throughout the century. Regional climate models are useful tools that enable various meteorological drivers of fire danger to be considered in projections of future fire danger.     

The 2007 dry spell in Luzon (Philippines): its cause, impact and corresponding response measures

Climate change, involving both human-induced global warming and natural climate variability, has been called upon to explain the occurrences of weather extremes with their associated natural hazards. The Philippines experienced a dry spell in 2007 specifically in parts of Luzon which occurred during the rainy season. On the other hand, areas in Mindanao, southern Philippines which were supposed to be dry, were wet due to the non-migration of the inter-tropical convergence zone northward. The 2007 dry spell in Luzon, northern Philippines affected the agricultural, power, water and health sectors. The local effects of this weather extreme have to be documented and studied to ensure that the appropriate response measures are adopted should there be a recurrence. The building up of the database on this weather extreme and related natural hazards will definitely help the country cope with future similar events.     

Seasonal variation in the biogeochemical cycling of seston in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan

This study describes the biogeochemical cycling of seston in Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan. Seston was characterized by carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotopic abundances. Fluorescence, temperature, light transmittance, and concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen were also determined. PCBs were analyzed from surface (10 m) seston and ΣPCB was calculated by summing all of the congeners quantified in each sample. The vertical and seasonal trends in the δ¹³C values of seston exhibited a broad range from −30.7 to −23.9‰. Low δ¹³C values that occur concurrently with a peak in fluorescence below the thermocline reflect uptake of ¹³C depleted respiratory CO₂ and/or the accumulation of ¹³C depleted lipids by phytoplankton. High δ¹³C values late in the season likely result from a reduction in photosynthetic fractionation associated with a decrease in the CO₂ pool. Seasonal δ¹⁵N values of seston were high in the spring and declined through August. The δ¹⁵N values of seston reflect a balance between fractionation during assimilation of NH₄⁺ or NO₃⁻ and degradative processes. The seston ΣPCB and fluorescence were both high in the spring and subsequently declined, suggesting that the concentrations of PCBs in seston were associated with labile material derived from primary productivity. The strong seasonal trends in the organic geochemical characteristics of seston and concentrations of PCBs emphasize the complex nature of particle cycling in aquatic environments.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina alterniflora</Emphasis> Biomass Allocation and Temperature: Implications for Salt Marsh Persistence with Sea-Level Rise

To predict the impacts of climate change, a better understanding is needed of the foundation species that build and maintain biogenic ecosystems. Spartina alterniflora Loisel (smooth cordgrass) is the dominant salt marsh-building plant along the US Atlantic coast. It maintains salt marsh elevation relative to sea level by the accumulation of aboveground biomass, which promotes sediment deposition and belowground biomass, which accretes as peat. Peat accumulation is particularly important in elevation maintenance at high latitudes where sediment supply tends to be limited. Latitudinal variation in S. alterniflora growth was quantified in eight salt marshes from Massachusetts to South Carolina. The hypothesis that allocation to aboveground and belowground biomass is phenotypically plastic was tested with transplant experiments among a subset of salt marshes along this gradient. Reciprocal transplants revealed that northern S. alterniflora decreased allocation to belowground biomass when grown in the south. Some northern plants also died when moved south, suggesting that northern S. alterniflora may be stressed by future warming. Southern plants that were moved north showed phenotypic plasticity in biomass allocation, but no mortality. Belowground biomass also decomposed more quickly in southern marshes. Our results suggest that warming will lead northern S. alterniflora to decrease belowground allocation and that belowground biomass will decompose more quickly, thus decreasing peat accumulation. Gradual temperature increases may allow for adaptation and acclimation, but our results suggest that warming will lower the ability of salt marshes to withstand sea-level rise.     

Simulated distribution and ecotoxicity-based assessment of chemically-dispersed oil in Tokyo Bay

To assess risks of chemically-dispersed oil to marine organisms, oil concentrations in the water were simulated using a hypothetical spill accident in Tokyo Bay. Simulated oil concentrations were then compared with the short-term no-observed effect concentration (NOEC), 0.01 mg/L, obtained through toxicity tests using marine diatoms, amphipod and fish. Area of oil concentrations higher than the NOEC were compared with respect to use and non-use of dispersant. Results of the simulation show relatively faster dispersion near the mouth of the bay compared to its inner sections which is basically related to its stronger water currents. Interestingly, in the inner bay, a large area of chemically-dispersed oil has concentrations higher than the NOEC. It seems emulsifying oil by dispersant increases oil concentrations, which could lead to higher toxicity to aquatic organisms. When stronger winds occur, however, the difference in toxic areas between use and non-use of dispersant is quite small.