The Dust Hypothesis

Alan E Strong Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov
Fri Jan 3 07:31:27 EST 2003


Hi Alina,

...could have something to do with aerosol particle size and selective
settling as air trajectory carried dust westward...?

Just a thought....happy new year every one!

Cheers,
Al

szmanta wrote:

>Dear All:
>
>I have read several times the hypothesis that the Diadema die-off in
>the  Caribbean was somehow caused by African dust.  Can someone explain
>to me the logic behind this when the same species of sea urchin is doing
>well, and matter of fact, has been a pest because of too high of
>population densities on reefs just off the West coast of Africa (much
>closer to the dust and potential  pathogen source)?
>
>Happy New Year to all.
>
>Alina Szmant
>
>>===== Original Message From "Precht, Bill" <Bprecht at pbsj.com> =====
>>Dear Coral List:
>>
>>For those following the "dust" for the past few years I thought you might
>>find these tidbits of interest.
>>
>>Have a great holiday!
>>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>>
>>The Dust Hypothesis
>>
>>Question:
>>
>>Why have coral reefs that are bathed in clear oceanic waters throughout
>>much of the Caribbean suffered algal infestation, coral diseases, and near
>>extinction of herbivorous sea urchins almost simultaneously during the
>>1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s? The best known factors detrimental to coral
>>reefs include sewage, run-off from land, dredging, UV light, etc. These
>>factors do not apply for many affected reefs where human population is
low.
>>Is there an alternative way to spread nutrients and diseases?
>>
>>(Contineud)
>>
>>http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/
>>
>>
>>  Online mini-movie
>>
>>     Watch USGS scientists Ginger Garrison, Gene Shinn, Chuck Holmes, and
>>     Dale Griffin in "The Effects of Globally Transported African and
>>     Asian Dust on Coral Reef and Human Health"
>>
>>  http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/documentary/
>>
>>
>>  National Public Radio interview
>>
>>     Project scientists Gene Shinn and Ginger Garrison were interviewed
>>     along with geologist/novelist Sarah Andrews on National Public Radio
>>     station KQED in San Francisco on the popular morning talk show
>>     "Forum" on January 15, 2002. Listen to the interview.
>>
>>  www.kqed.org/audioarchive/frameset/forum/2002/01/2002-01-15b-forum.html
>>
>>
>>////////////////
>>
>>
>>Mercury From China Rains Down on California
>>
>>  Environmental News Service (ENS)
>>  http://ens-news.com/
>>
>>  December 20, 2002
>>
>>SANTA CRUZ, California, - Industrial emissions in Asia are a major source
>>of mercury in rainwater that falls along the California coast, a new study
>>suggests.
>>
>>The mercury in rainwater is not in itself a health threat, but mercury
>>pollution is a problem in San Francisco Bay and other California waters
>>because the toxic element builds up in the food chain. State regulatory
>>agencies are looking for ways to reduce the amount of mercury entering the
>>state's waters from various sources.
>>
>>It is not just the mercury itself but a whole cocktail of atmospheric
>>pollutants that contribute to the deposition of mercury in rainfall.
>>Elemental mercury behaves as a gas in the atmosphere and is not washed out
>>in rain until it has been oxidized into a charged ionic form that can be
>>captured by water droplets.
>>
>>Ozone, a major component of urban and industrial smog, plays a key role in
>>this oxidation process, said Douglas Steding, lead author of a paper
>>published Thursday in the online edition of the "Journal of Geophysical
>>Research - Atmospheres." The report by Steding and other researchers from
>>the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) will appear in a later
>>print edition of the journal.
>>
>>"There is a relatively large reservoir of mercury in the atmosphere, and
>>it's the rate of oxidation that determines how much of it gets deposited
in
>>rainfall," Steding said.
>>
>>Mercury is a trace contaminant of most coal, and emissions from coal
>>burning power plants are a major source of mercury pollution in many parts
>>of the world. In the Pacific Basin, the main source of atmospheric mercury
>>is coal combustion in China.
>>
>>China relies on coal as a fuel and accounts for about 10 percent of the
>>total global industrial emissions of mercury.
>>
>>Air pollution in China also generates ozone, which peaks during the winter
>>due to increased fuel consumption for heating. Air loaded with mercury and
>>ozone moves off the continent into the Western Pacific, where it is
>>incorporated into developing storms.
>>
>>"The mercury we measured in rainwater results from a combination of
mercury
>>emissions and ozone production, as well as meteorological factors - the
>>storm tracks that transport the pollutants across the Pacific," Steding
>>said.
>>
>>Steding collected rainwater samples at two sites in central California: on
>>the coast at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory and at Moffett Field near San
>>Jose, on the inland side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. For each rainfall
>>event, the researchers used air mass trajectories calculated by a national
>>climate lab to trace the movement of the storms across the Pacific from
>>Asia.
>>
>>Rainwater collected at the coastal site showed the background
>>concentrations of mercury in storms as they arrived off the Pacific Ocean.
>>Those measurements were about three times higher than estimates of the
>>natural, preindustrial level, Steding said.
>>
>>Rainwater from the inland site showed mercury concentrations 44 percent
>>higher than at the coastal site. Steding attributed the difference between
>>the two sites to ozone in Bay Area smog, rather than local emissions of
>>mercury.
>>
>>"There is a local influence of urban smog on the mercury oxidation rate.
We
>>see a background signal of mercury blowing off the Pacific, then a local
>>enrichment that's probably due to urban smog," Steding said. "If we want
to
>>reduce mercury deposition, it's not enough to shut down local emissions of
>>mercury, because other pollutants influence how much of the mercury in the
>>atmosphere ends up in rainwater."
>>
>>Steding said people should not worry about health effects from the mercury
>>in rainwater, because the concentrations are very low. But the deposition
>>in rain does add mercury to surface waters, where the toxin enters the
food
>>chain and builds up to high levels in certain kinds of fish.
>>
>>State health officials have issued advisories warning people not to eat
>>fish from more than a dozen bodies of water in California, including San
>>Francisco Bay.
>>
>> #  #  #
>>
>>http://ens-news.com/ens/dec2002/2002-12-20-09.asp#anchor1
>>
>>
>>///////////////////
>>
>>
>>Steding, Douglas J.; Flegal, A. Russell
>>
>>Mercury concentrations in coastal California precipitation:
>>Evidence of local and trans-Pacific fluxes of mercury to North America
>>
>>10.1029/2002JD002081
>>
>>19 December 2002
>>
>>http://www.agu.org/pubs/toc2002/jd.shtml#dec
>>
>>
>>////////////////
>>
>>
>>Mercury In California Rainwater Traced ...
>>
>>ScienceDaily News Release
>>
>>.. Steding emphasized that people should not worry about health effects
>>
>>from the mercury in rainwater, because the concentrations are very low.
>
>>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021220075156.htm
>>
>>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>>
>>*****************************************
>>Season's Greetings from NOAA's CHAMP!
>>*****************************************
>>~~~~~~~
>>For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the
>>digests, please see http://www.coral.noaa.gov/lists/coral-list.html .
>>
>
>Alina M. Szmant
>UNCW Center for Marine Science
>On travel from UNCW
>
>~~~~~~~
>For directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the
>digests, please see http://www.coral.noaa.gov/lists/coral-list.html .
>

--
**** <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< ******* <>< *******
  Alan E. Strong
   Team Leader, Marine Applications Science Team (MAST)
          Phys Scientist/Oceanographer
    NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD -- E/RA3
    NOAA Science Center -- RM 711W
    5200 Auth Road
    Camp Springs, MD 20746-4304
          Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov
               301-763-8102 x170
                FAX: 301-763-8572
    http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/orad


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Hi Alina,<br>
<br>
...could have something to do with aerosol particle size and selective
settling
as air trajectory carried dust westward...?<br>
<br>
Just a thought....happy new year every one!<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Al<br>
<br>
szmanta wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:200301012245.h01MjSQ5018547 at coral.aoml.noaa.gov">
  <pre wrap="">Dear All:<br><br>I have read several times the hypothesis
that the Diadema die-off in<br>the  Caribbean was somehow caused by
African dust.  Can someone explain<br>to me the logic behind this when
the same species of sea urchin is doing<br>well, and matter of fact, has
been a pest because of too high of<br>population densities on reefs just
off the West coast of Africa (much<br>closer to the dust and potential
pathogen source)?<br><br>Happy New Year to all.<br><br>Alina
Szmant<br><br></pre>
  <blockquote type="cite">
    <pre wrap="">===== Original Message From "Precht, Bill" <a
class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:Bprecht at pbsj.com">&lt;Bprecht at pbsj.com&gt;</a>
=====<br>Dear Coral List:<br><br>For those following the "dust" for the
past few years I thought you might<br>find these tidbits of
interest.<br><br>Have a great holiday!<br>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br><br>The Dust
Hypothesis<br><br>Question:<br><br>Why have coral reefs that are bathed
in clear oceanic waters throughout<br>much of the Caribbean suffered
algal infestation, coral diseases, and near<br>extinction of herbivorous
sea urchins almost simultaneously during the<br>1970s, 1980s, and early
1990s? The best known factors detrimental to coral<br>reefs include
sewage, run-off from land, dredging, UV light, etc. These<br>factors do
not apply for many affected reefs where human population is low.<br>Is
there an alternative way to spread nutrients and
diseases?<br><br>(Contineud)<br><br><a cla
ss="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/">
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/</a><br><br><br>
Online mini-movie<br><br>     Watch USGS scientists Ginger Garrison,
Gene Shinn, Chuck Holmes, and<br>     Dale Griffin in "The Effects of
Globally Transported African and<br>     Asian Dust on Coral Reef and
Human Health"<br><br>  <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/documentary/">
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/documentary/</a><br><br><br>
National Public Radio interview<br><br>     Project scientists Gene
Shinn and Ginger Garrison were interviewed<br>     along with
geologist/novelist Sarah Andrews on National Public Radio<br>
station KQED in San Francisco on the popular morning talk show<br>
"Forum" on January 15, 2002. Listen to the interview.<br><br>  <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="
http://www.kqed.org/audioarchive/frameset/forum/2002/01/2002-01-15b-forum.html
">www.kqed.o

rg/audioarchive/frameset/forum/2002/01/2002-01-15b-forum.html</a><br><br><br>////////////////<br><br><br>Mercury
>From China Rains Down on California<br><br>  Environmental News Service
(ENS)<br>  <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://ens-news.com/">http://ens-news.com/</a><br><br>  December
20, 2002<br><br>SANTA CRUZ, California, - Industrial emissions in Asia
are a major source<br>of mercury in rainwater that falls along the
California coast, a new study<br>suggests.<br><br>The mercury in
rainwater is not in itself a health threat, but mercury<br>pollution is
a problem in San Francisco Bay and other California waters<br>because
the toxic element builds up in the food chain. State
regulatory<br>agencies are looking for ways to reduce the amount of
mercury entering the<br>state's waters from various sources.<br><br>It
is not just the mercury itself but a whole cocktail of
atmospheric<br>pollutants that contribute to the deposition of mercury
in rainfall.<br>Elemental m
ercury behaves as a gas in the atmosphere and is not washed out<br>in
rain until it has been oxidized into a charged ionic form that can
be<br>captured by water droplets.<br><br>Ozone, a major component of
urban and industrial smog, plays a key role in<br>this oxidation
process, said Douglas Steding, lead author of a paper<br>published
Thursday in the online edition of the "Journal of
Geophysical<br>Research - Atmospheres." The report by Steding and other
researchers from<br>the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) will
appear in a later<br>print edition of the journal.<br><br>"There is a
relatively large reservoir of mercury in the atmosphere, and<br>it's the
rate of oxidation that determines how much of it gets deposited
in<br>rainfall," Steding said.<br><br>Mercury is a trace contaminant of
most coal, and emissions from coal<br>burning power plants are a major
source of mercury pollution in many parts<br>of the world. In the
Pacific Basin, the main source of atmosph
eric mercury<br>is coal combustion in China.<br><br>China relies on coal
as a fuel and accounts for about 10 percent of the<br>total global
industrial emissions of mercury.<br><br>Air pollution in China also
generates ozone, which peaks during the winter<br>due to increased fuel
consumption for heating. Air loaded with mercury and<br>ozone moves off
the continent into the Western Pacific, where it is<br>incorporated into
developing storms.<br><br>"The mercury we measured in rainwater results
from a combination of mercury<br>emissions and ozone production, as well
as meteorological factors - the<br>storm tracks that transport the
pollutants across the Pacific," Steding<br>said.<br><br>Steding
collected rainwater samples at two sites in central California:
on<br>the coast at UCSC's Long Marine Laboratory and at Moffett Field
near San<br>Jose, on the inland side of the Santa Cruz Mountains. For
each rainfall<br>event, the researchers used air mass trajectories
calculated by a na
tional<br>climate lab to trace the movement of the storms across the
Pacific from<br>Asia.<br><br>Rainwater collected at the coastal site
showed the background<br>concentrations of mercury in storms as they
arrived off the Pacific Ocean.<br>Those measurements were about three
times higher than estimates of the<br>natural, preindustrial level,
Steding said.<br><br>Rainwater from the inland site showed mercury
concentrations 44 percent<br>higher than at the coastal site. Steding
attributed the difference between<br>the two sites to ozone in Bay Area
smog, rather than local emissions of<br>mercury.<br><br>"There is a
local influence of urban smog on the mercury oxidation rate. We<br>see a
background signal of mercury blowing off the Pacific, then a
local<br>enrichment that's probably due to urban smog," Steding said.
"If we want to<br>reduce mercury deposition, it's not enough to shut
down local emissions of<br>mercury, because other pollutants influence
how much of the mercury
in the<br>atmosphere ends up in rainwater."<br><br>Steding said people
should not worry about health effects from the mercury<br>in rainwater,
because the concentrations are very low. But the deposition<br>in rain
does add mercury to surface waters, where the toxin enters the
food<br>chain and builds up to high levels in certain kinds of
fish.<br><br>State health officials have issued advisories warning
people not to eat<br>fish from more than a dozen bodies of water in
California, including San<br>Francisco Bay.<br><br> #  #  #<br><br><a
class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://ens-news.com/ens/dec2002/2002-12-20-09.asp#anchor1">
http://ens-news.com/ens/dec2002/2002-12-20-09.asp#anchor1
</a><br><br><br>///////////////////<br><br><br>Steding,
Douglas J.; Flegal, A. Russell<br><br>Mercury concentrations in coastal
California precipitation:<br>Evidence of local and trans-Pacific fluxes
of mercury to North America<br><br>10.1029/2002JD002081<br><br>19
December 2002<br><br><a cla
ss="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.agu.org/pubs/toc2002/jd.shtml#dec">
http://www.agu.org/pubs/toc2002/jd.shtml#dec
</a><br><br><br>////////////////<br><br><br>Mercury
In California Rainwater Traced ...<br><br>ScienceDaily News
Release<br><br>.. Steding emphasized that people should not worry about
health effects<br></pre>
    </blockquote>
    <pre wrap=""><!---->&gt;from the mercury in rainwater, because the
concentrations are very low.<br></pre>
    <blockquote type="cite">
      <pre wrap=""><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021220075156.htm">
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/12/021220075156.htm</a><br><br>-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-<br><br>*****************************************<br>Season's Greetings
from NOAA's
CHAMP!<br>*****************************************<br>~~~~~~~<br>For
directions on subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or
the<br>digests, please see <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.coral.noaa.gov/lists/coral-list.html">
http://www.coral.noaa.gov/lists/coral-list.html</a>
.<br></pre>
      </blockquote>
      <pre wrap=""><!----><br>Alina M. Szmant<br>UNCW Center for Marine
Science<br>On travel from UNCW<br><br>~~~~~~~<br>For directions on
subscribing and unsubscribing to coral-list or the<br>digests, please
see <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.coral.noaa.gov/lists/coral-list.html">
http://www.coral.noaa.gov/lists/coral-list.html</a>
.<br><br></pre>
      </blockquote>
      <br>
      <pre class="moz-signature" cols="$mailwrapcol">--
**** &lt;&gt;&lt; ******* &lt;&gt;&lt; ******* &lt;&gt;&lt; *******
&lt;&gt;&lt; *******
  Alan E. Strong
   Team Leader, Marine Applications Science Team (MAST)
          Phys Scientist/Oceanographer
    NOAA/NESDIS/ORA/ORAD -- E/RA3
    NOAA Science Center -- RM 711W
    5200 Auth Road
    Camp Springs, MD 20746-4304
          <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov">Alan.E.Strong at noaa.gov</a>
               301-763-8102 x170
                FAX: 301-763-8572
    <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/orad">
http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/orad</a>
    </pre>
      <br>
      </body>
      </html>

--------------050205080207060108010100--

~~~~~~~
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