Shift in Arabian Sea plankton may threaten fisheries

A press release from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University): A growing “dead zone” in the middle of the Arabian Sea has allowed plankton uniquely suited to low- oxygen water to take over the base of the food chain. Their rise to dominance over the last decade could be disastrous for the predator fish that sustain 120 million people living on the sea’s edge.

Scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and their colleagues are the first to document the rapid rise of green Noctiluca scintillans, an unusual dinoflagellate that eats other plankton and draws energy from the sun via microscopic algae living within its cells. Noctiluca’s thick blooms color the Arabian Sea an emerald green each winter, from the shores of Oman on the west, to India and Pakistan on the east.

In a study published this week in Nature Communications, the researchers show how the millions of green algae living within Noctiluca’s cells allow it to exploit an oxygen-starved dead zone the size of Texas. They hypothesize that a tide of nutrient-rich sewage flowing from booming cities on the Arabian Sea is expanding the dead zone and feeding Noctiluca’s growth.
           
“These blooms are massive, appear year after year, and could be devastating to the Arabian Sea ecosystem over the long-term,” said the study’s lead author, Helga do Rosario Gomes, a biogeochemist at Lamont-Doherty....

A NASA image of a phytoplankton bloom in the Arabian Sea

Rising sea levels threat to Oman real estate plans

Claire Ferris-Lay in Arabian Business: Rising sea levels in Oman could be a threat to future construction projects in the Gulf sultanate, new research has said. Land in Oman is moving a few millimeters every year, impacting areas in the capital city of Muscat and Seefah while data has also suggested the country could be at risk of a tsunami in the future, a study from the German University of Technology in Oman has found.

“Here in Oman, the land is moving by a few millimeters each year - in both directions up and downwards. It is necessary to quantify these processes as large infrastructure projects are under development in the coastal regions,” Professor Goesta Hoffmann, associate professor of applied geosciences at the university, said in a statement. “As a consequence, parts of Oman especially between Seefah and Muscat are threatened.”

Construction projects in Oman, like many Gulf countries, have ramped up in recent years as the country looks to diversify its economy and address its growing national population. Spending on construction projects is expected to reach more than $27bn by 2014, according to research from Venture....

Distant click of Muscat Port - the yacht of the Sultan of Oman can be seen anchored at port. Shot by Pranav21391, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Spotlight on drought management strategies

Abdulaziz al Jahdhami in the Observer (Oman): The First International Conference on Drought Management Strategies in Arid and Semi Arid Regions kicked off yesterday under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Taimur bin Asaad bin Tareq al Said, Assistant Secretary-General to the International Relations at the Research Council. The conference is organised by the Ministry of Regional Municipality and Water Resources in co-operation with the Regional Centre on Urban Water Management in Iran during December 11 to 14 at the InterContinental Hotel, Muscat.

The first of its kind conference is held with the participation of 69 experts and specialists from 20 countries in addition to a number of international and regional bodies concerned with water issues. Among the participating organisations are the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, ESCWA, the International Hydrological Programme of Unesco and the Research Council as well as some experts of water resources management and development.

The four-day conference is organised to achieve various objectives that serve water development control drought in arid and semi arid areas. The major aim of the conference is to introduce the new scientific and technological concepts and tools to be used in drought management plans in the context of agriculture, urban supply and water management. The event serves as a platform where agriculture and water specialists and experts converge to exchange the latest knowledge and experience in the field of drought management improvement strategies....

A monument of an incense burner in Muscat, Oman, shot by larsz, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Heavy rains hit Oman as cyclone Phet approaches

Terra Daily via Agence France-Presse: Heavy rains hit Oman's east coast on Thursday as cyclone Phet approached the sultanate pushing up from the Arabian Sea and authorities raised the alert level to orange. The cyclone, rated at a factor of 3.5 on a scale of five, was moving northwestwardly at a speed of eight kilometres (five miles) an hour. Winds were blowing at a 180 kilometres (112 miles) an hour.

Hotels along the east coast of the sultanate have been evacuated, the ministry of tourism said, and the residents of Masirah island were airlifted to safer areas. The eye of Phet was still around 150 kilometres (93 miles) away from Masirah. The capital Muscat further north could be affected by Saturday, authorities said….

NASA image of Cyclone Phet just off the Arabian Peninsula, near Oman, June 2