“SHRINKING SNOWCAPS AND RISING TIDES – THE RESPONSE OF THE ARABIAN SEA ECOSYSTEM TO CLIMATE CHANGE“
Joaquim Goes and Annette Decharon Originally presented 12 April 2014
SHRINKING SNOWCAPS AND RISING TIDES – THE RESPONSE OF THE ARABIAN SEA ECOSYSTEM TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Joaquim I. Goes,
Marine Biology and Paleoenvironment, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory,
The recent trend of global warming has led to a systematic decrease in snow persistence over the Himalayan-Tibetan mountain range causing a change in the thermal balance between the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Sea. In this presentation, I will summarize the results of our ongoing studies that reveal the dramatic changes taking place in the Arabian Sea ecosystem being caused as a result of a reduction in snowfall in the distant Himalayan-Tibetan region. This presentation will begin by describing the changes taking place in the Arabian Sea during the summer monsoon and will be followed by changes during the winter monsoon. The long-term implications of these changes on populations surrounding the Arabian Sea will also be discussed.
About Dr. Goes:
Fields of interest:
a) Marine phytoplankton physiology and productivity b) Climate change and its impact on ocean biota and biogeochemical processes c) Development of ocean color and other remote sensing algorithms and methods for studying ocean carbon cycling and air-sea CO2 fluxes. d) Development of novel methods for investigating the formation and fate of dissolved organic carbon in sea water. Impacts of climate change on phytoplankton productivity and biodiversity
My major research efforts have been directed at understanding the structure and functioning of plankton ecosystems and their response to physical forcing so that a capability can be developed to forecast responses of marine ecosystems to global change (Goes et al, 2001. 2004, 2005; Limsakul et al., 2001). For my research work I rely on an approach that examines phytoplankton at the cellular level, where changes in phytoplankton cell physiology, biochemistry and optical properties are studied as a means of evaluating their role and response to changes in the environment (Goes et al., 2002). With the help of empirical or semi-analytical modeling techniques, information obtained at the cellular level is then extrapolated to regional and global scales using data from satellites and ships. Research on this front has led to the development of satellite based methods that have made it possible to assess how large-scale climatic events such as El-Niño and La Niña, the North Atlantic Oscillation impact atmospheric CO2 draw down by phytoplankton (export production). (Goes et al, 200, 2004) Ship and satellite studies, currently underway in the Arabian Sea, have provided the first indications of rapid ecosystem changes being brought about by global warming and the rapid decline in snow over the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau region (Goes et al.,2005, Gomes et al., 2008; 2009). Bio-optical and phytoplankton physiological studies being undertaken in the Bering Sea are aiding in the development of regional satellite ocean color algorithms that will help assess how the Bering Sea shelf ecosystem is responding to changes in sea-ice concentrations. In the Amazon River Plume, ship and satellite are being collected to help understand the influence of the Amazon River on the pelagic ecosystem, carbon cycling and sequestration in the tropical north Atlantic and the sensitivity of this ecosystem to anthropogenic climate change.
Annette DeCharon is the Director of the COSEE-OS (Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-Ocean Systems) program based at the University of Maine (http://cosee.umaine.edu/). Annette has worked with Dr. Goes to create educational activities based on his research, which she will share in this E2C program from her home in Maine via a “first” for E2C: connecting by Skype. (Images from this part of the workshop are above.)
Here are links to materials created for this presentation:
“Concept Map” goes_concept_map_final
“Geographic Map” goes_geographic_map_final
Interactive versions of these worksheets are available at: http://cosee.umaine.edu/earth2class/
A third scientist associated with today’s program is Helga do Rosario Gomes. Dr. Gomes currently works in Dr. Goes’ group at LDEO and previously conducted research at the Bigelow Lab and COSEE. She and Annette have created educational activities that are included below.
“Introductory Slideshow”
Related Resources
Geography
HRW Atlas “Indian Ocean” http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/indian.htm
Arabian Sea map http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Arabian_Sea_map.png
Encyclopedia Britannica “Indian Ocean” http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/285876/Indian-Ocean
Monsoons
NWS Glossary “Monsoon: A thermally driven wind arising from differential heating between a land mass and the adjacent ocean that reverses its direction seasonally.”
National Geographic Education “Monsoons” http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/monsoon/?ar_a=1
Nature (PBS) “Monsoon” http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/monsoon/html/intro.html
About.com Geography “Monsoons”http://geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/a/monsoon.htm
About.com Weather “Monsoon Winds” http://weather.about.com/od/monsoons/f/monsoons.htm
About.com “Southeast Asia Weather” http://goasia.about.com/od/weather/a/Southeast-Asia-Weather.htm
ODP “From Mountains to Monsoons” CD-ROM (out of print) http://odplegacy.org/outreach/cdroms.html
The Solid Earth System (EESC 2200) “Lab 5 ODP From Mountains to Monsoons”
http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/lithosphere/labs/lab5/index.html
“Monsoon Winds and Maritime Trade” http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/33
CPC American Monsoons
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Global_Monsoons/American_Monsoons/
Global Monsoons
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/Global_Monsoons/
TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/features/AustraliaMonsoon.html
Earth Observatory 2008 Pakistan floods
Evolution of Asian monsoons and phased uplift of the Himalaya–Tibetan plateau since Late Miocene times
Indian ocean surface currents
West and East Indian Countercurrents http://iri.columbia.edu/~lareef/tsunami/indianoceancurrents.gif
http://www.es.flinders.edu.au/~mattom/IntroOc/notes/figures/images/fig2a2.gif
http://www-pord.ucsd.edu/~ltalley/sio210/Indian/11circ.gif
COSEE-OS (U. Maine)
COSEE-Ocean Systems : http://cosee.umaine.edu/resources/
Educator Resources: http://cosee.umaine.edu/resources/educators/
“Modeling the Ocean-Climate System”: http://cosee.umaine.edu/coseeos/workshops/es1108conceptmap01.htm
Interactive Concept & Geographic May: http://cosee.umaine.edu/earth2class