Entries this day: Today bicycle iceberg

Today

9:50am CDT Monday 22 April 2002

Wow. My linux box clock set itself correctly over the weekend. I wonder if it though savings time started or ended this weekend.

Yesterday I went to YRUU, but no one showed up, so I studied Japanese; now I'm pretty clear on all the hiragana, except for all the ones with little quotes or circles beside them. I almost know half of those.

People did show up for SNOW (Sunday Night Of Worship), at which there were several tears after stressful weekends.

I hung out with Amy for some hours afterward, sharing stories, and answering some questions about her new leadership role in YRUU - local, district and continental.

- - - -

This morning I met with Kim Sawyer, my personal coach at Empire Cafe. Good stuff.

Kim helped me reframe my work so that I am happier here, knowing that this (work) is helping me get to Japan.

12:03pm

Staff meeting was not entirely boring. I've gotten 3 things done from my list since then.

1:47pm

Just went outside for a walk to see the wall that's being built between the Shepherd exit ramp and the freeway. Met a guy named Alvin who said he went to jail in Louisiana, and got transferred to Houston where he was released. He's begging for money until he gets enough to go back to LA.

5:28pm

Aight; I'm outta here for the day. Had a 2 hour productive project-design meeting. I think we will benefit from having these before we start big projects.

bicycle

9:25pm CDT Monday 22 April 2002

Rode my bike to I-group tonight. Zero wrecks this time; I didn't try as much wacky stuff. Cars still got in my way though. From Richmond, I rode along the inside of 610 loop once I reached it. Then under 610 along Westheimer and huge bunny hops over parking lot curbs three in a row as I sped diagonally across the parking lot. Fun.

During I-group, I told them of my fear in going to Japan. I was pretty quickly able to recognize that my fear is simply of the unknown, just as I had fear around going to Paris before Bryn and I went. The Paris trip was fantastic; why should Japan be any different? That's right. It will be equally fantastic, but even more so.

Rode my bike home, and from Richmond/610 interchange I rode through the 2 foot tall grass along the inside of 610 loop as it turned backwards into highway 59, and along its feeder all the way backwards to Newcastle. That was strenuous. Crossed under 59 on Newcastle and rode north along 59 feeder all the way to Shepherd. Equally strenuous and more danger from traffic. Didn't get squished though.

iceberg

22 April 2002

10,000 square kilometers is pretty big.

Date:    Mon, 22 Apr 2002 14:21:28 -0400 (EDT)
From:    NASANews@hq.nasa.gov
Subject: MASSIVE ICEBERGS MAY AFFECT ANTARCTIC SEA LIFE AND FOOD CHAIN


David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington               April 22, 2002
(Phone: 202/358-1730)

Cynthia O'Carroll
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/614-5563)

Harvey Leifert
American Geophysical Union, Washington
(Phone: 202/777-7507)

Mark Shwartz
Stanford University News Service, Stanford, Calif.
(Phone: 650/723-9296)

RELEASE: 02-68

MASSIVE ICEBERGS MAY AFFECT ANTARCTIC SEA LIFE AND FOOD CHAIN

     NASA-funded research using satellite data has shown 
large icebergs that have broken off from Antarctica's Ross 
Ice Shelf are dramatically affecting the growth of minute 
plant life in the ocean around the region -- plant life vital 
to the local food chain.

Scientists say the icebergs appear to have caused a 40 
percent reduction in the size of the 2000-2001 plankton bloom 
in one of Antarctica's most biologically productive areas. 
The icebergs decrease the amount of open water that the 
plants need for reproduction. 

After the calving, or "breaking off," of the B-15 iceberg in 
March of 2000, researchers used imagery from NASA's SeaWiFS 
(Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) satellite and data 
from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program to see the 
effect that large icebergs have on phytoplankton (minute 
floating plants) blooms. The B-15 iceberg that broke off the 
Ross Ice Shelf and drifted into the southwestern Ross Sea was 
as large as the state of Connecticut (approximately 10,000 
square kilometers or 3,900 square miles)

"This is the first time that satellite imagery has been used 
to document the potential for large icebergs to substantially 
alter the dynamics of a marine ecosystem," said Kevin Arrigo, 
a researcher at Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. Arrigo 
and his colleagues are publishing their results in a paper 
titled "Ecological Impact of a Large Antarctic Iceberg," in 
an upcoming issue of Geophysical Research Letters. 

NASA's Thorsten Markus of the Goddard Space Flight Center, 
Greenbelt, Md., a co-author on the paper, noted that SeaWiFS 
satellite imagery enabled researchers to see that large 
icebergs such as the B-15 restricted the normal drift of pack 
ice. Normally, when the winds shift, ice is carried out into 
the Ross Sea, creating open ocean space and a breeding ground 
for phytoplankton. The icebergs, however, created a blockage 
that resulted in heavier spring/summer pack-ice cover than 
previously recorded. 

Since the area of sea ice was more extensive, the area 
suitable for phytoplankton growth was reduced, and as a 
result, so was the length of the algal growing season. Since 
the B-15 iceberg was so large, plankton productivity 
throughout the region was more than 40 percent below normal. 

The southwestern Ross Sea is one of the most biologically 
productive regions in the Southern Ocean surrounding 
Antarctica. This is partly due to the large and persistent 
areas of open water that form during the Antarctic spring 
when pack ice drifts out of the Ross Sea. 

In the springtime, winds shift in the area of the Ross Sea 
and clear away sea ice, forming the Ross Sea polynya (an area 
of open water surrounded by sea ice) where phytoplankton 
flourish. However, when large icebergs calve, such as B-15, 
sea ice is not as easily moved by winds, severely reducing 
the area of open water. 

Phytoplankton are a critical part of the entire ecosystem in 
the Ross Sea, since they sustain marine mammals and birds in 
the region. During periods where there are no large icebergs, 
phytoplankton thrive, and so do those organisms that feed on 
them. The region also is home to 22 percent of the world 
population of circumpolar Emperor penguins and 30 percent of 
Adélie penguins. 

This research is a part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a 
long-term research effort dedicated to help us better 
understand and protect our home planet.   

Images and video are available at: 
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020416iceberg.html

Information on SeaWiFS can be found at:
http://SeaWiFS.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html

Information on icebergs is available on the National Snow and 
Ice Data Center Web site at:
http://nsidc.org
                         -end-

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