World Meteorological Organization No. 25 • June 2004 Weather • Climate • Water Dramatic visualization of ocean dynamic topography highlights the importance of satellite observations in ocean/climate studies. Units are centimetres. Climate and the marine Courtesy NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech environment— see page 3 CONTENTS 3 6 10 Climate and the marine environment Guidelines for the Climate Watch Rescuing marine data 4 7 10 Global aerosol watch IPCC’s Fourth Assessment From COP-9 to COP-10 5 8 11 Changes in Arctic Ocean salinity Surface-based ocean observations Progress in hydrological 6 for climate: an update data rescue Towards a United Nations global 9 12 marine assessment Climate in 2003 Dust,carbon and the oceans Issued by the World Meteorological Organization Printed entirely on environmentally friendly paper Geneva • Switzerland CALENDAR 1-8 June Foreword Kos, Greece International Quadrennial This issue of World Cl i m ate Ne ws focuses on climate and the oceans. As noted in Ozone Symposium “QOS the lead article, mankind depends on the ocean in many ways. Thanks to recent 2004” increases in our ability to observe marine systems, we know that the oceans are con- stantly changing. The changes result from interactions between the ocean and 3-5 June atmosphere as well as from inputs from the land. In recent decades, several recurring Barcelona, Spain patterns of climate variability in the oceans have been identified, such as the now First World Conference on well-known El Niño Southern Oscillation, that involve ocean basin-wide changes in Broadcast Meteorology temperature, currents and sea-level. There is also longer-term variability, as yet incompletely determined, that includes trends resulting from human activities. At the 14-17 June same time, weather, ecosystem and human health changes are associated with the Helsinki, Finland Seventh International Winds recurring climate patterns, and with changes in the oceans. Climate variability in Workshop the global marine environment affects most of mankind in one way or another. These recurring climate patterns and some of their impacts on society have been 21-25 June identified on the basis of many decades of ocean and terrestrial observations that Baltimore, USA have been collected and archived in databases around the world. Unfortunately, First International CLIVAR many regions of the global ocean are insufficiently observed to provide a confident Science Conference basis for climate-variability and climate-impact studies. Increasing the amount of information available on the global ocean and coastal waters is essential for many 5-9 July reasons that have been described, for example, in the Global Climate Observing Brisbane, Australia System (GCOS) Adequacy Report and the Assessment Reports of the Inter- International Conference on governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and priority actions to improve Storms global ocean observing systems have been identified. 26-30 July In addition to the lead article, which reviews the two-way interactions between cli- Exeter, United Kingdom mate and the marine environment, focusing on the importance of enhanced ocean Eighth session of the Baseline monitoring, other articles in this issue address topics such as the present status of Surface Radiation Network ocean observing systems, both in situ and space-based; assessing climate change and Workshop and Scientific its impacts in the marine environment; and current and planned activities of the Review IPCC and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 4-9 September Christchurch, New Zealand Eighth IGAC Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry (M. Jarraud) 12-16 September Secretary-General Beijing, China International Symposium and WWRP Research Planning Workshop on Sand and Dust Storms For more information about WMO, contact: Residents of Canada and the USA should order through: The World Meteorological Organization The American Meteorological Society, 27 September-1 October 7 bis, avenue de la Paix WMO Publications Center, Berchtesgaden, P.O. Box 2300 45 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108, USA CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland Germany Tel.: (1) 617 227 2425 International Conference on Internet: http://www.wmo.int Tel: (41) (0)22 730 8314/8315 Fax: (1) 617 742 8718 Hydrology of Mountain Fax: (41) (0)22 730 2829 E-mail: [email protected] Environments E-mail: [email protected] The designations employed and the presentation of Orders for publications may be sent to this material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat address or: of the World Meteorological Organization concerning Tel.: (41) (0)22 730 83 07 the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or Fax: (41) (0)22 730 80 22 of its authorities, or concerning the delimitations of its E-mail: [email protected] frontiers or boundaries. 2 WORLD CLIMATE NEWS • June 2004 No. 25 CLIMATE AND THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT Mankind depends on the ocean in many ocean and ways. Thanks to recent increases in our coastal ability to observe marine systems, we waters is know that the oceans are constantly essential for changing. The changes result from inter- many rea- actions of the ocean and atmosphere, as sons that well as from inputs from the land. In recent have been decades, several recurring patterns of cli- described mate variability have been identified that elsewhere. involve basin-wide changes in tempera- Among the ture, currents and sea level. These patterns interna- have been shown to be linked to changes tional that affect our nations. There is also agreements longer-term variability, as yet incompletely that require determined, that includes trends resulting sustained from human activities. and routine Weather, ecosystem and human-health observa- changes are associated with the recurring tions of climate patterns. These range from inter- oceanic annual variations in the frequency, intensity and coastal and track locations of tropical cyclones, to systems to the increased chance of unusual patterns of achieve regional temperatures and rainfall, to major their goals species distribution changes in regional are the UN fisheries (see figure), to changes in the dis- Convention tribution of disease-carrying species. on the Law Coastal zone impacts can be particularly of the Sea intense, ranging from flooding and erosion (UNCLOS, of the shoreline to increases in the trans- including port of nutrients and pollutants from land the agreement on Straddling Fish Stocks Pacific sardine and anchovy to sea, habitat loss, harmful algal blooms, and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks), the catches vary greatly from oxygen depletion and reductions in fish- Jakarta Mandate (on biodiversity), the decade to decade but correlate strongly with long- eries’ recruitment. Climate variability in Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the term records of marine the global marine environment affects Global Plan ofAction on Land-Based climate indices. most of mankind in one way or another. Sources of Pollution, the Safety of Life at We have discovered these recurring cli- Sea Convention (SOLAS—see page 12), mate patterns and some of their impacts and the UN Conference on Environment Sources Figure courtesy of Francisco Chavez on society thanks to many decades of and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). (MBARI) ocean and terrestrial observations that Priority actions to improve our Text based on a contribution from: have been collected by nations and global ocean observing systems have archived in databases around the world. been identified to meet the needs of Dr D.E. Harrison Chairman, Ocean Observations Panel Data collection and sharing between the United Nations Framework for Climate nations provides the foundation of what Convention on Climate Change, the Pacific Marine Environmental Labora- we now know. More could be known if all Intergovernmental Panel on Climate tory, NOAA/PMEL/OCRD, Seattle, USA nations shared the data that have been Change and the international climate Dr Anthony Knap Co-chairman, Coastal Ocean Observa- agreed to be essential climate information. research and forecasting communities. tions Panel It is unfortunate that, even with complete The Global Climate Observing System, The Bermuda Biological Station for data sharing, many regions of the global the Global Ocean Observing System Research, Inc, Bermuda ocean are insufficiently observed to pro- (GOOS) and the World Climate Professor Thomas C. Malone Co-chairman, Coastal Ocean vide a confident basis for climate variabil- Research Programme have helped Observations Panel ity and climate impact studies. In these develop recommendations in this area. Horn Point Laboratory University of Maryland Center for regions, it is typical to find insufficient A widely supported, internationally Environmental Science, USA numbers of observations even to charac- coordinated and sustained effort simi- terize climate variability, much less to dif- lar to that of the World Weather Watch ferentiate between variability and trends. will be needed. Although the global Increasing the amount of information ocean is not in any nation’s backyard, it available to our societies from our global is important to every nation. WORLD CLIMATE NEWS • June 2004 No. 25 3 Improvement of coastal observing sys- of plans as we learn more about ocean cli- Observing the tems will be directed to address national and mate, as we have technology that permits ocean surface regional priorities that will be different in us to observe more variables of interest, different