EAS 4300: Introduction to Oceanography, FALL 2009

INSTRUCTORS:

Emanuele Di Lorenzo
phone 404-894-3994
office ES&T 3244
email edl@eas.gatech.edu

Kim Cobb
phone 404-894-1992
office ES&T 2234
email kcobb@eas.gatech.edu

TA:
Andrew Davis
Email andrew.davis@eas.gatech.edu

Course Website http://ocean3d.org/eas-4300

Questions for you

Why do we care about Oceanography?

How is oceanography important in

understanding future climate?

What aspects of ocean sciences are

relevant to the economy?

How can humans impact the ocean

and climate?
Oceanography and Climate
How is oceanography important in
understanding future climate?
Climate changes occur on different
space and time scales.
Regional  Basin Wide  Global
SPACE

Seasonal  Interannual  Decadal  Millennial

TIME
Oceanography and Climate - seasonal timescales
Thermoregulating effects (e.g. moist air of the Gulf Stream
and Kuroshio Extensions)
Oceanography and Climate - seasonal timescales
Sea surface temperature in the
tropical oceans fuel hurricanes

Hurricanes becoming more

intense as ocean warms?
Oceanography and Climate - interannual timescales
El Niño is the strongest signal of climate variability on
interannual timescales. It is a coupled mechanism between
the tropical ocean and atmosphere.
Oceanography and Climate - interannual timescales
Ocean Vortices are one of the strongest mixing agent in
the ocean, they are important for ocean circulation and
biology. Their role in climate is still unknown!

NORTH
AMERICA

Gulf of Alaska

Thomson, R. E., and J. F. R. Gower, 1998: A basin-scale oceanic instability event in the Gulf
of Alaska. J Geophys Res-Oceans, 103, 3033-3040.
Oceanography and Climate - decadal timescales
Changes of ocean circulation affects fish distributions and
abundance.

Sardines/Anchovies

synchronized alternations between

sardines/anchovies over the entire
Pacific Ocean?
Oceanography and Climate - longer timescales
Changes in the ocean/atmosphere affect the ice caps, and
therefore Sea Level.

Sea level will rise

7 to 22” in the next
century, if melting
does not accelerate
--IPCC AR4, 2007
Oceanography and Climate - longer timescales
Marine Ecosystem regulate the cycling of chemical species
relevant to climate (e.g. Carbon, DMS)

Chlorophyll Spring 2005 (MODIS Satellite)

Oceanography and Climate - millenial timescales
Vertical circulation of the ocean MOVIE:
The Day After Tomorrow
Oceanography and Climate

Climate changes occur on different

space and time scales.

What makes it interesting is that

processes happening on different
temporal and spatial scales are not
separable and interact with each other 
A NONLINEAR SYSTEM  COMPLEXITY

WHY?
e.g. The ocean has a very long memory.
We will learn about this, and about the mechanisms of
interaction between ocean-atmosphere-land-
ecosystems.
Resources in the Ocean and Economy
What aspects of ocean sciences are
relevant to the economy?

Geological Resources extraction of petroleum, gas, metals, carbon

sequestration?, etc.
Ecological Resources mainly food from fisheries and maricultures

Energy Resources extraction of power from waves, tides,

currents and heat content

Chemical Resources e.g. development of new drugs, salts, etc.

Recreational Resources of coastal areas, e.g. beaches and more

Oceanographic studies helped discover these resources and help to

manage them (e.g. coastal processes and beaches, and many more…)
Ocean Resources, Economy and Oceanography
An example: The City of Venice, ITALY
1. Dump: rain and tides
distribute it in the lagoon)

2. Factory: factories drained

their liquid waste partly into the
lagoon and partly into dumps.
Currents and erosion continue
to disperse pollutants.

3. Sea: Meteorological
conditions can accentuate high
tides. Bora, a cold northerly in
the Adriatic Sea, and Sirocco, a
hot, dust-laden wind from the
Libyan desert, can trigger
dangerously high tides.

4. River: the Republic of Venice

diverted four rivers that
originally flowed into the lagoon. Offshore GAS
The loss of the silt and sediment extraction
is transforming the delta
environment into a marine one. platforms
opening to
5. Farm: 53 percent of the sea
phosphates and other pollutants
that enter the lagoon come from
these sources.

6. Town: About 1,400,000

people live in the basin, but Adriatic Sea
when one considers the quantity
of nutrients and organic matter
generated, environmentalists
say, it is as if 4,000,000 people
lived there.
Ocean Resources, Economy and Oceanography
An example: The City of Venice, ITALY
using oceanography and ocean engeneering

Install Gates to
control the tide

opening to
sea

Adriatic Sea

More at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venice/
Humans impacts on the Ocean and Climate
How can humans impact the ocean
and climate?

Alterations: chemical (e.g. mercury, aerosols, green house gases, oil)

dying corals, poison fish, global warming

biological (e.g. introducing new faunas, phosphate from

changes in land use, overfishing …)

cholera in India, changes in Mediterranean species

physical/geological (e.g. shoreline interventions …)

city of venice was an example

 Humans impacts on the Ocean and Climate
CNN: Asian Brown
Cloud' poses global
threat
August 12, 2002 Posted: 10:43 PM
EDT (0243 GMT)

Satellite view

Aerosols change:
radiation budget
clouds concentration
amount of rain in clouds
Humans impacts on the Ocean and Climate
CNN: Asian Brown
Where does it come from?
Cloud' poses global
threat
August 12, 2002 Posted: 10:43 PM
EDT (0243 GMT) The sources are changing fast
Humans impacts
on the Ocean and
Climate
Oceanography in the
Indian Ocean plays a
crucial role in
isolating and
understanding the
impacts of Asian
aerosols.
… aerosol pollution is only one piece of a more complex puzzle
The Global Warming Issue

from thermometers

from paleo records

What will happen

in the (near)
0.8 C
future?
An important question
discussed by scientists
(IPCC)
 How do we define the science of Oceanography?

My personal interest
We studied oceanography in San Diego at the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Manu
Ocean and climate dynamics
Physical-biological interactions in the ocean
Ocean Forecasting

Kim
Paleoclimate and Climate Change
Isotope Geochemistry
Energy & the Environment
The Scientific Method