ALBERT

Description: 〈jats:title〉Abstract〈/jats:title〉 〈jats:p〉—J. BLUNDEN, T. BOYER, AND E. BARTOW-GILLIES〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉Earth’s global climate system is vast, complex, and intricately interrelated. Many areas are influenced by global-scale phenomena, including the “triple dip” La Niña conditions that prevailed in the eastern Pacific Ocean nearly continuously from mid-2020 through all of 2022; by regional phenomena such as the positive winter and summer North Atlantic Oscillation that impacted weather in parts the Northern Hemisphere and the negative Indian Ocean dipole that impacted weather in parts of the Southern Hemisphere; and by more localized systems such as high-pressure heat domes that caused extreme heat in different areas of the world. Underlying all these natural short-term variabilities are long-term climate trends due to continuous increases since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the atmospheric concentrations of Earth’s major greenhouse gases.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉In 2022, the annual global average carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere rose to 417.1±0.1 ppm, which is 50% greater than the pre-industrial level. Global mean tropospheric methane abundance was 165% higher than its pre-industrial level, and nitrous oxide was 24% higher. All three gases set new record-high atmospheric concentration levels in 2022.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉Sea-surface temperature patterns in the tropical Pacific characteristic of La Niña and attendant atmospheric patterns tend to mitigate atmospheric heat gain at the global scale, but the annual global surface temperature across land and oceans was still among the six highest in records dating as far back as the mid-1800s. It was the warmest La Niña year on record. Many areas observed record or near-record heat. Europe as a whole observed its second-warmest year on record, with sixteen individual countries observing record warmth at the national scale. Records were shattered across the continent during the summer months as heatwaves plagued the region. On 18 July, 104 stations in France broke their all-time records. One day later, England recorded a temperature of 40°C for the first time ever. China experienced its second-warmest year and warmest summer on record. In the Southern Hemisphere, the average temperature across New Zealand reached a record high for the second year in a row. While Australia’s annual temperature was slightly below the 1991–2020 average, Onslow Airport in Western Australia reached 50.7°C on 13 January, equaling Australia's highest temperature on record.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉While fewer in number and locations than record-high temperatures, record cold was also observed during the year. Southern Africa had its coldest August on record, with minimum temperatures as much as 5°C below normal over Angola, western Zambia, and northern Namibia. Cold outbreaks in the first half of December led to many record-low daily minimum temperature records in eastern Australia.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉The effects of rising temperatures and extreme heat were apparent across the Northern Hemisphere, where snow-cover extent by June 2022 was the third smallest in the 56-year record, and the seasonal duration of lake ice cover was the fourth shortest since 1980. More frequent and intense heatwaves contributed to the second-greatest average mass balance loss for Alpine glaciers around the world since the start of the record in 1970. Glaciers in the Swiss Alps lost a record 6% of their volume. In South America, the combination of drought and heat left many central Andean glaciers snow free by mid-summer in early 2022; glacial ice has a much lower albedo than snow, leading to accelerated heating of the glacier. Across the global cryosphere, permafrost temperatures continued to reach record highs at many high-latitude and mountain locations.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉In the high northern latitudes, the annual surface-air temperature across the Arctic was the fifth highest in the 123-year record. The seasonal Arctic minimum sea-ice extent, typically reached in September, was the 11th-smallest in the 43-year record; however, the amount of multiyear ice—ice that survives at least one summer melt season—remaining in the Arctic continued to decline. Since 2012, the Arctic has been nearly devoid of ice more than four years old.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉In Antarctica, an unusually large amount of snow and ice fell over the continent in 2022 due to several landfalling atmospheric rivers, which contributed to the highest annual surface mass balance, 15% to 16% above the 1991–2020 normal, since the start of two reanalyses records dating to 1980. It was the second-warmest year on record for all five of the long-term staffed weather stations on the Antarctic Peninsula. In East Antarctica, a heatwave event led to a new all-time record-high temperature of −9.4°C—44°C above the March average—on 18 March at Dome C. This was followed by the collapse of the critically unstable Conger Ice Shelf. More than 100 daily low sea-ice extent and sea-ice area records were set in 2022, including two new all-time annual record lows in net sea-ice extent and area in February.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉Across the world’s oceans, global mean sea level was record high for the 11th consecutive year, reaching 101.2 mm above the 1993 average when satellite altimetry measurements began, an increase of 3.3±0.7 over 2021. Globally-averaged ocean heat content was also record high in 2022, while the global sea-surface temperature was the sixth highest on record, equal with 2018. Approximately 58% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave in 2022. In the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand’s longest continuous marine heatwave was recorded.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉A total of 85 named tropical storms were observed during the Northern and Southern Hemisphere storm seasons, close to the 1991–2020 average of 87. There were three Category 5 tropical cyclones across the globe—two in the western North Pacific and one in the North Atlantic. This was the fewest Category 5 storms globally since 2017. Globally, the accumulated cyclone energy was the lowest since reliable records began in 1981. Regardless, some storms caused massive damage. In the North Atlantic, Hurricane Fiona became the most intense and most destructive tropical or post-tropical cyclone in Atlantic Canada’s history, while major Hurricane Ian killed more than 100 people and became the third costliest disaster in the United States, causing damage estimated at $113 billion U.S. dollars. In the South Indian Ocean, Tropical Cyclone Batsirai dropped 2044 mm of rain at Commerson Crater in Réunion. The storm also impacted Madagascar, where 121 fatalities were reported.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉As is typical, some areas around the world were notably dry in 2022 and some were notably wet. In August, record high areas of land across the globe (6.2%) were experiencing extreme drought. Overall, 29% of land experienced moderate or worse categories of drought during the year. The largest drought footprint in the contiguous United States since 2012 (63%) was observed in late October. The record-breaking megadrought of central Chile continued in its 13th consecutive year, and 80-year record-low river levels in northern Argentina and Paraguay disrupted fluvial transport. In China, the Yangtze River reached record-low values. Much of equatorial eastern Africa had five consecutive below-normal rainy seasons by the end of 2022, with some areas receiving record-low precipitation totals for the year. This ongoing 2.5-year drought is the most extensive and persistent drought event in decades, and led to crop failure, millions of livestock deaths, water scarcity, and inflated prices for staple food items.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉In South Asia, Pakistan received around three times its normal volume of monsoon precipitation in August, with some regions receiving up to eight times their expected monthly totals. Resulting floods affected over 30 million people, caused over 1700 fatalities, led to major crop and property losses, and was recorded as one of the world’s costliest natural disasters of all time. Near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Petrópolis received 530 mm in 24 hours on 15 February, about 2.5 times the monthly February average, leading to the worst disaster in the city since 1931 with over 230 fatalities.〈/jats:p〉 〈jats:p〉On 14–15 January, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai submarine volcano in the South Pacific erupted multiple times. The injection of water into the atmosphere was unprecedented in both magnitude—far exceeding any previous values in the 17-year satellite record—and altitude as it penetrated into the mesosphere. The amount of water injected into the stratosphere is estimated to be 146±5 Terragrams, or ∼10% of the total amount in the stratosphere. It may take several years for the water plume to dissipate, and it is currently unknown whether this eruption will have any long-term climate effect.〈/jats:p〉

Description: A 2-year monthly survey has been carried out in Port Island (Hon Kong, SAR China) from April 2018 to March 2020 to monitor the water quality conditions and assess the physiological status of coral colonies Platygyra carnosa. Seawater parameters were measured every month along the water column using a YSI EXO2 multiparameter sonde to record values of chlorophyll, conductivity, depth, oxygen concentration, salinity, total dissolved solids, blue-green algae, turbidity, pH and temperature. Light intensity at coral depth (3-4 m) was measured using a Hobo light-meter during each survey. These data were used to identify the seasonal influence of water conditions on metabolism, productivity, and calcification of the coral Platygyra carnosa.

Description: A 2-year monthly survey has been carried out in Port Island (Hon Kong, SAR China) from April 2018 to March 2020 to monitor the water quality conditions and assess the physiological status of coral colonies Platygyra carnosa. Physiological parameters of P. carnosa were measured using the same protocols at each deployment survey to make repeated observations of health status under natural conditions. Respiration (R) and net photosynthesis (Pn) rates were measured at the coral surfaces using an underwater respirometer (CISME Instruments LLC) following measurement and calibration protocols as previously described by Dellisanti et al. (2020; doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111005). Daily coral energetics, as holobiont productivity, were quantified as the ratio of oxygen production through gross photosynthesis (Pg) to consumption through respiration (R) and indicated as Pg/R ratio. At the end of each light incubation, a sample of the recirculated chamber water was collected for measurement of total alkalinity (At). Rates of coral calcification (CA) were determined using the alkalinity anomaly technique (Schoepf et al., 2017; doi:10.1007/s00338-016-1507-z) normalized to the coral surface area (24.5 cm2). The photosynthetic capacity of the symbiont was measured as maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm) using a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer (diving-PAM, Heinz Walz, Effeltrich, Germany) equipped with a standard glass-fiber optic probe (Ralph et al., 1999; doi:10.3354/meps180139). PAM measurements were taken on randomly selected polyps of the same coral spot where CISME was deployed after 15 min dark acclimation. Digital photographs were taken on the same coral spot for colorimetric analysis to quantify the levels of whiteness as a measure of discoloration or quantification of bleaching (Chow et al., 2016; doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2016.03.003). The whiteness value was measured as the dissimilarity percentage in colour composition between treated and control corals using the SIMPER tool of Primer 6.0 software (Primer-E Ltd). The data were used to identify the seasonal influence of water conditions on metabolism, productivity, and calcification of the coral Platygyra carnosa.

Description: This dataset comprises data obtained during a 6 week-long exposure experiment of mussels of the family Mytilidae to two types of microplastics, namely polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyvinylchloride (PVC) particles and two types of natural inorganic microparticles, namely diatoms and red clay. This data was obtained from May to September 2019 in five different bioregions, which are Tasmania, Chile, Japan, Cabo Verde and Israel. We recorded body condition index, byssus thread production in 24 hours, clearance rate of the food algae and respiration rate at the end of six weeks of exposure to the four different microparticles (with an exception of the groups exposed to PVC and red clay in Tasmania, which lasted 5 weeks). Mussels were exposed to three concentrations of each particle type, which were 1.5, 15 and 150 mg/l and one group to no particles at all as control.

Description: Coral physiological data of Platygyra carnosa were collected from three in-situ locations and laboratory experiments in controlled-conditions in Hong Kong waters. An underwater respirometer was used to measured changes in dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature in dark and light conditions at coral surface level, and water sample loop collected for measurement of calcification rates through alkalinity anomaly method. The in-situ and laboratory coral physiology data were compared to show the replicability and accuracy of the instrument. Moreover, diel cycle of respiration, photosynthesis and calcification, P vs I curve and responses of P. carnosa to different locations were measured.

Description: The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean Version 2 (IBCSO v2) is a digital bathymetric model (DBM) for the area south of 50° S with special emphasis on the bathymetry of the Southern Ocean. IBCSO v2 has a resolution of 500 m × 500 m in a Polar Stereographic projection (EPSG: 9354). The total data coverage of the seafloor is 23.79% with a multibeam-only data coverage of 22.32%. The remaining 1.47% include singlebeam and other data. IBCSO v2 is the most authoritative seafloor map of the area south of 50°S. IBCSO is a regional mapping project of the General Bathymetric Chart of the Ocean (GEBCO) supported by the Nippon Foundation – GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project. GEBCO is a project under the auspices of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) with the goal to produce the authoritative map of the world's oceans. The IBCSO Project is also an integral part of the Antarctic research community and an expert group of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). For further information about the IBCSO Project, please visit http://www.ibcso.org.

Description: Rock samples for TOC were dried at 40 ºC and then grounded to a fine powder with subsequent carbonate dissolution with HCl and organic-carbon combustion using a LECO WR 112 Carbon Analyser.

Description: Well-log data was acquired in a Late Cretaceous section of the Espírito Santo basin (western South Atlantic). Cyclostratigraphic techniques were used to explore the eventual pacing of orbital cycles in the deposition of sequences. The frequency ratio method was used to interpret the orbital cycles and based on this a long-eccentricity signal was interpreted and extracted to create a floating time-scale. Using a seismic horizon associated Cretaceous-Paleogene transition, a strong shift in the natural gamma-ray data was anchored to an age of 66.0 Ma producing an anchored astronomical time-scale placed between late Albian and early Ypresian.

Description: Aquatic and terrestrial plant materials were collected from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values of individual amino acids and bulk materials were measured. Fifty-six specimens were collected from three locations within the Delta, two flooded islands, Mildred and Liberty Islands, as well as an adjacent terrestrial riparian habitat (Big Break Regional Shoreline). Specimens included terrestrial trees, shrubs, forbs, and grasses as well as floating, submerged, and emergent aquatic plants. Bulk leaf tissues were processed and the carbon and nitrogen isotope values of bulk tissues were measured following Tipple and Ehleringer, 2018 (Oecologia, 187, 1053-1075). Amino acids were hydrolyzed, derivatized, and isolated following Vokhshoori et al., 2013 (Marine Ecology Progress Series, 504, 59-72). Carbon and nitrogen isotope values of individual amino acids were measured following Vokhshoori et al., 2013 and Vokhshoori and McCarthy, 2013 (PLoS ONE, 9, 6, e98087), respectively. The purpose of this research was to create a novel molecular isotope toolset to increase the understanding of biogeochemistry and food web structure of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's tidal wetlands and estuarine marshes.