Publications by authors named "C E Menkes"
El Niño typically induces cooling in the Southwest Pacific Ocean during austral summers, usually leading to decreased marine heatwave frequency and severity. However, the 2016 extreme El Niño unexpectedly coincided with the longest and most extensive marine heatwave ever recorded in the region. This heatwave, spanning over 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccelerating rate of human impact and environmental change severely affects marine biodiversity and increases the urgency to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 30×30 plan for conserving 30% of sea areas by 2030. However, area-based conservation targets are complex to identify in a 3-dimensional (3D) ocean where deep-sea features such as seamounts have been seldom studied mostly due to challenging methodologies to implement at great depths. Yet, the use of emerging technologies, such as environmental DNA combined with modern modeling frameworks, could help address the problem.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTropical and extra-tropical storms generate extreme waves, impacting both nearby and remote regions through swell propagation. Despite their devastating effects in tropical areas, the contribution of tropical cyclones (TCs) to global wave-induced coastal risk remains unknown. Here, we enable a quantitative assessment of TC's role in extreme waves approaching global coastlines, by designing twin oceanic wave simulations with and without realistic TC wind forcing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Oceanic eddies are crucial in marine ecosystems, attracting diverse marine life, including predators, by concentrating forage fauna.
- In a study of a thousand eddies, only 13% showed significant effects on forage fauna, with just 6% exhibiting a strong "oasis effect."
- Both anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies can create oases, but only high-amplitude eddies with strong water-mass-trapping significantly impact marine life, indicating complex interactions that require more research.
Article Synopsis
- Over the past 40 years, the intensity of tropical cyclones affecting coastal regions has increased, leading to concerns about their impact on forests and tree damage.
- Researchers analyzed data from 11 cyclones and 74 forest plots to understand how factors like maximum sustained wind speed, topographical exposure, tree size, and wood density influence tree damage during these storms.
- Their findings reveal that higher wind speeds and topographical exposure significantly increase tree damage, while denser wood and tree size play complex roles in mitigating damage, especially for smaller trees in extreme wind conditions.