Marufish BLoG

Chemicals being dumped in Sulu Sea? The Nations, Thursday, October 9, 2008 ZAMBOANGA CITY — Residents of Tawi-Tawi province have sought assistance over alleged dumping of tons of chemicals in the Sulu Sea as part of an "ocean cleansing" project of an international organization. Governor Sadikul A. Sahali claimed Ocean Nourishment Corp. (ONC) did not inform his office of the plan to dump tons of chemicals, specifically urea, into the province’s seas. The company, in its Web site http://www.oceannourishment.com/ , described itself as "an ethical organization established with the dual goals of managing planet-wide greenhouse gas concentrations and providing protein-rich food for malnourished populations." Officials of the company listed on the Web site could not be contacted for comment. BusinessWorld also repeatedly tried to contact Malcolm I. Sarmiento, Jr., director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, to clarify if his agency has cleared ONC’s operatio...

BOM ENSO Wrap-Up, 24 Sep 2008 Summary: Neutral conditions likely to end the year The tropical Pacific Ocean remains ENSO-neutral with further slight cooling over the last three weeks. Subsurface temperatures have also cooled, pointing to the possibility of a further reduction of surface temperatures over the coming weeks. This cooling has been largely driven by stronger than normal trade winds in the central and western equatorial Pacific. The SOI reflects the recent changes in the oceans, and has risen to a value of +17. Given current conditions and trends in the equatorial Pacific there is now little potential for an El Niño event to occur in 2008. Historically, ENSO conditions tend to persist through spring, suggesting a switch to La Niña conditions is also unlikely. This is supported by climate model forecasts, which show neutral conditions are likely to remain until the end of the year. The positive Indian Ocean Dipole is following its normal cycle of decay in the spring and is ex...

Rains erupt over Kerala, East still wet Business Line Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31 Heavy to very heavy rains have erupted over extreme south peninsula, and perhaps for the first time over Kerala after the season set in three months ago, as an ongoing spell pounded its way ahead. This is expected to later spark intense activity to the north along the west coast as the heavy rain belt gets yanked away from interior Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The west coast rains are predicted to wallop the adjoining interior as they push in a north-northeast direction. The outlook for more rains for north interior Karnataka, madhya Maharashtra, Marathawada, Vidarbha and Telengana still holds good. These rains are being attributed to weather anomalies associated with the periodical Madden-Julian Oscillation wave that travels west to east across the Indian Ocean. Elevated sea surface temperatures bequeathed by the Indian Ocean Dipole too have helped provide the needed platform. Vigorous Monsoon The Met Centr...

SOI rises sharply to +16.5, lifting spring rain hopes GREGOR HEARD 25/09/2008 3:47:00 PM The 30-day Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) has lifted sharply, back up to +16.5 – a pattern that generally suggests better than average rainfall and a move to a La Nina pattern. Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist (BOM) Lyn Bettio, however, says that while the move is a positive for farmers hoping for spring rain, it has not yet gone on long enough to be significant. She also warns that there are other factors required to usher in a La Nina. Ms Bettio said that along with having an SOI above a reading of eight for a couple of months, other factors, such as sea surface temperature and trade winds, need to fall in line with a La Nina pattern, and this is not happening yet. In parts of the northern Western Australian wheat belt and most of Queensland, chances are rising for above average rainfall, with the chance of higher than usual rainfall for October through December rising to between 65 and 70pc...