Wind Speeds Increasing On World’s Oceans, Study Says

Ukiyo-e coloured woodcut by Hokusai

Yale Environment 360 reports on a new study in the journal Science,Global Trends in Wind Speed and Wave Height," suggests that wind speeds and wave heights have been rising. What does this mean for storms?

"Average wind speeds and wave heights have been rising on the world’s oceans over the last quarter century, a trend that could portend more intense storms, hurricanes, and cyclones, according to a new study. Using satellite altimeter data from 1985 to 2008, Australian researchers calculated that wind speeds increased 0.25 to 0.5 percent per year, and overall had increased 5 to 10 percent during that time.

"The most pronounced increases were observed during extreme wind events — in comparison with mean conditions — which increased about 0.75 percent annually, according to the study, published in the journal Science. Ian Young, a professor at the Australian National University at Canberra and lead author of the study, said it is unclear whether it is a temporary phenomenon or the result of global climate change, although he added, 'If we have oceans that are warming, that energy could feed storms, which increase wind speeds and wave heights.'" 

Read the study here (subscription or purchase required): Wind & Waves.

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Dark Ecosystems Nurtured by Oil (NYT)

"How much oil seeps up from the seabed, aside from oil spills? Quite a lot, and a fascinating group of sea creatures thrives on it," writes William Broad in the New York Times Green Blog about sea creatures that thrive on natural oil seeps in the deep, dark ocean: Dark Ecosystems Nurtured by Oil.

"In 2003, the National Research Council released a comprehensive study, 'Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates and Effects.' The 265-page report paints a global portrait of the petrochemical flows, both natural and unnatural. It turns out that the largest contributors [of petrochemicals in the ocean] far and away are the natural seeps, like those across the bottom of the gulf that power the dark ecosystems."

Of course, as one commentator pointed out, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill has leaked "an amount equal to 75 percent of the annual natural seepage worldwide, except it has occurred in 2 months in one specific location."

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Happy World Oceans of Plastic and Oil Day to You Too, Sucker

World Oceans Day seems like a joke in the face of the BP oil spill, the Pacific Garbage Gyre, and oceans that contain "more plastic than plankton," as Oceanographer Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, puts it.

To have a day to "honor the world's ocean, celebrate the products the ocean provides, such as seafood, as well as marine life itself for aquariums, pets, and also a time to appreciate its own intrinsic value" is a travesty. We are soiling our own house and will have to live in it -- or not.

World Oceans Day is a day of mourning, not celebration. In many ways, it is Beyond Pathetic.

Here is Charles Moore's TED talk on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch:

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