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The Ocean's Role in Weather and Climate
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The NOAA/NSTA Symposium: The Ocean's Role in Weather and Climate took place in room
303 of the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD, on Thursday, November 2,
2006. Thirty-nine educators were in attendance, representing the states of Arkansas,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
The team of presenters included Dr. Michael McPhaden from NOAA, Scott Kiser from
the National Weather Service, Sarah Schoedinger, Frank Niepold, Judy Reeves, and
Joseph Shewmaker, all from NOAA. The symposium focused on the role the oceans play
in weather and climate, in particular, in the creation of hurricanes and el niño/la
niña southern oscillations. NSTA would like to thank all the participants and the
presenters for a job well done!
The program started with an introductory administrative session during which Flavio
Mendez, Symposia and Web Seminars Program Manager at NSTA, familiarized participants
with the contents of their folders, including the agenda, the talent release form,
the pre-assessment form, and the session's learning outcomes. Sarah Schoedinger
started the program with an overview of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) and its mission as it relates to the study of the oceans and the atmosphere.
She described the agency's mission to understand and predict changes in Earth's
environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the Nation's
economic, social, and environmental needs. Mr. Kiser followed Schoedinger's presentation
with a talk about hurricanes. Kiser talked about the historical advances in hurricane
tracking and monitoring and the conditions necessary for hurricane formation. Hurricanes
form when the ocean temperature is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The water must be
warm to a depth of about 150 feet. Kiser also talked about the challenges of forecasting
regarding issuing mandatory evacuations and how these may affect people's lives
and their finances. Judy Reeves and Joe Shewmaker followed Mr. Kiser with an activity
about storm surge. By far, most deaths and property damage caused by hurricanes
are due to the storm's surge. They explained that the level of the surge is primarily
related to the intensity of the storm and the slope of the sea floor.
The second part of the symposium focused on the ocean's role in climate. Dr. Michael
McPhaden made a presentation about el niño and la niña southern oscillations. He
described el niño as an oscillation in the ocean-atmosphere system that occurs in
the tropical Pacific off the coast of South America. This oscillation has global
consequences, he explained, including increased rainfall in the southern United
States and drought conditions in the western Pacific. During an el niño year, the
water temperature off the coast of South America increases cutting off the supply
of nutrient-rich cold water to the ocean's surface. This affects the sea-food chain,
and eventually, the financial health of many countries, in addition to flooding,
and extreme drought conditions in different parts of the world. NOAA uses satellite
and in-situ data collection instruments to forecast el niño conditions. La niña
has the opposite effects of el niño. The second and final activity of the day was
facilitated by Frank Niepold. Educators worked individually using cards with el
niño and la nña information to compare and contrast normal conditions with conditions
found during el niño and la niña years, and to list ways in which el niño and la
niña impact weather patterns both globally and on a local scale.
See the presenters' PowerPoint presentations:
Want to learn more about this symposium? Check out the photo gallery, browse the
program's agenda, and read the presenters' biographical sketches.
For more information contact symposia@nsta.org
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Underwritten in part by: NOAA