Fork + Fauna

We may see fairly regular fires, earthquakes, and floods in California, but we hardly ever get full-force hurricanes. Our combination of cool offshore waters (even in summer—I only leave my 4:3 wetsuit at home a few days each summer) and coastal upwelling dampen the strength of big tropical cyclones that might be heading our way. And they rarely do: hurricanes usually head west-northwest after they form in the tropics. So for us on the left coast, this means hurricanes are already hightailing away from us just after they’re born.

Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen

Go west, young hurricane. Tropical storm Mindulle making landfall in Vietnam, Aug. 23, 2010

A study coming out in Geophysical Research Letters suggests that the ocean’s color might affect formation of typhoons (which is what hurricanes are called in the North Pacific, where the research took place). While we usually talk about the deep blue sea, the ocean usually has a greenish tint. The green comes from chlorophyll, the same compound that helps plants on land turn sunlight into things we can eat. Tiny phytoplankton in the ocean have chlorophyll, too.

Researchers looked at what might happen if these phytoplankton were to vanish. With less green on top, sunlight could shine its way deeper into the ocean. This would leave surface water cooler than when phytoplankton coat the ocean and trap the heat in the exposed water. Cool surface water would suppress typhoons by changing the wind patterns that make these storms grow, as well as creating fewer thunderstorms and adding in less energy to feed already-existing storms. There’s some talk that ocean productivity is on the decline (although there are also reports of fluctuating chlorophyll levels). In any case, it will be interesting to see what hurricane patterns look like in the North Pacific—and elsewhere, too—when studied through green-tinted glasses.

So, speaking of glasses.

From Fork and Fauna

A few years ago, a good friend showed us how to make Dark & Stormys. (My spell-check doesn’t like this word either way, but it looks much tougher without the “ies”, don’t you think?). We used to have them on dark and stormy nights in Oregon, of which there were many. But since we’ve moved to the Central Coast, we haven’t had very many of those. So, on a beautiful summer afternoon, we decided that we’d just toast our good weather fortune and have them whenever we want. (Within reason: more than a few and you will feel like a hurricane hit the next morning, no matter where you live).

Dark & Stormy

Ginger Ale (I like Reed’s or old-faithful Vernors)

Dark Rum

A generous squeeze of lime juice

I’ll leave the proportions up to you.