NZ Linz update in the Marine GeoGarage

Wellington Harbour

6 charts have been updated in the Marine GeoGarage (Linz october update published November 9, 2010) :

• NZ 46 : Cook Strait
  
• NZ 76 : Western Approaches to Foveaux
  
• NZ 865 : Approaches to Apia
  
• NZ 4633 : Wellington Harbour
  
• NZ 6821 : Bluff Harbour and Entrance : Port of Bluff
  
• NZ 8655 : Apia Harbour
  

Today NZ Linz charts (178 charts / 340 including sub-charts) are displayed in the Marine GeoGarage.

Note : LINZ produces official nautical charts to aid safe navigation in New Zealand waters and certain areas of Antarctica and the South-West Pacific.

Using charts safely involves keeping them up-to-date using Notices to Mariners

Brazil DHN update in the Marine GeoGarage

Porto do Rio Grande

8 charts have been updated on the Marine GeoGarage (10-11-25 DHN update) in the set of 226 charts :

• 200 : DA ILHA DE MARACÁ À ILHA DO MACHADINHO
• 201 : BARRA NORTE DO RIO AMAZONAS
• 210 : PROXIMIDADES DA BARRA NORTE DO RIO AMAZONAS
• 220 : DA BARRA NORTE AO PORTO DE SANTANA
• 2100 : DE MOSTARDAS AO RIO GRANDE
• 2101 : PORTO DO RIO GRANDE
• 2110 : PROXIMIDADES DO PORTO DE RIO GRANDE
• 2112 : DE RIO GRANDE A FEITORIA

Canada CHS update in the Marine GeoGarage

Ile Sallaberry (1431)

28 charts have been updated for Canada (CHS update published November 30, 2010) :

1431 : CANAL DE BEAUHARNOIS - LAC SAINT-LOUIS TO SAINT FRANCOIS
1510A : LAC DES DEUX MONTAGNES
1510B : LAC DES DEUX MONTAGNES
1550 : BRITANNIA BAY TO CHATS FALLS
1552B : CHUTE DU GRAND CALUMET TO LAC COULONGE
2235 : CAPE HURD TO LONELY ISLAND
2251 : MELDRUM BAY TO ST. JOSEPH ISLAND
2282 : OWEN SOUND TO CABOT HEAD
2283A : OWEN SOUND TO GIANTS TOMB ISLAND
2283B : SOUTHERN GEORGIAN BAY - INSETS OF CHART 2283
3441 : HARO STRAIT BOUNDARY PASS AND SATELLITE CHANNEL
3462 : JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT TO STRAIT OF GEORGIA
3742 : OTTER PASSAGE TO McKAY REACH
3743 : DOUGLAS CHANNEL
3802 : DIXON ENTRANCE
4023 : NORTHUMBERLAND STRAIT
4141A : SAINT JOHN TO EVANDALE
4141B : GRAND BAY TO EVANDALE INCLUDING BELLEISLE BAY
4381 : MAHONE BAY
4406 : TRYON SHOALS TO CAPE EGMONT
4425 : HARBOURS ON THE NORTH SHORE
4447 : POMQUET AND TRACADIE HARBOURS
4448 : PORT HOOD
4462 : ST. GEORGE'S BAY
4523 : LIITLE BAY ARM AND APPROACHES
4585 : GREEN HEAD TO LITTLE BAY ISLAND
4905 : CAPE TORMENTINE TO WEST POINT
4950 : ILES DE LA MADELEINE
6267 : GRINDSTONE POINT TO BERENS RIVER
7736 : SIMPSON STRAIT
7777 : CORONATION GULF WESTERN PORTION

So 692 charts (779 including sub-charts) are available in the Canada CHS layer. (see coverage)

Note : don't forget to visit 'Notices to Mariners' published monthly and available from the Canadian Coast Guard both online or through a free hardcopy subscription service.
This essential publication provides the latest information on changes to the aids to navigation system, as well as updates from CHS regarding CHS charts and publications.

USA NOAA update in the Marine GeoGarage

New York Harbor (12327)

13 charts have been updated in the Marine GeoGarage (NOAA update 11/30/2010)

50 : NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN EASTERN PART
11326 : GALVESTON BAY
11480 : CHARLESTON LIGHT TO CAPE CANAVERAL
11486 : ST AUGUSTINE LIGHT TO PONCE DE LEON INLET
11502 : DOBOY SOUND TO FERNANDINA
12214 : CAPE MAY TO FENWICK ISLAND
12327 : NEW YORK HARBOR
12332 : RARITAN RIVER RARITAN BAY TO NEW BRUNSWICK
16710 : ORCA BAY AND INLET CHANNEL ISLANDS TO CORDOVA
18456 : OLYMPIA HARBOR AND BUDD INLET
18764 : SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND PYRAMID COVE AND APPROACHES
18765 : APPROACHES TO SAN DIEGO BAY
19004 : HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

Today 1019 NOAA raster charts (2932 including sub-charts) are included in the Marine GeoGarage viewer.

Note : NOAA updates their nautical charts with corrections published in:
- U.S. Coast Guard Local Notices to Mariners (LNMs),
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Notices to Mariners (NMs), and
- Canadian Coast Guard Notices to Mariners (CNMs)
While information provided by this Web site is intended to provide updated nautical charts, it must not be used as a substitute for the United States Coast Guard, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or Canadian Coast Guard Notice to Mariner publications

Please visit the NOAA's chart update service for more info.

Climate change: Met Office halves 'worst case' sea level prediction

Global inundation analysis model (Credit : CReSIS)

From TheTelegraph

The Met Office has halved its "worst case" prediction for rising sea levels, in the latest instance of scientists being caught out for overstating the possible consequences of global warming.

Previously scientists had said oceans could rise by up to 13ft (4m) threatening cities like Shanghai, London and New York by 2100.
But it has been revised so that now the worse case scenario is just over 6ft 6in (2m).

This is still unlikely, but would mean the Maldives in the Indian Ocean and Tuvalu in the Pacific could be lost forever.
The most likely sea level rise this century remains between 8 and 23 inches (20-60cm), causing devastation in small island states and low lying countries like Bangladesh.

The report also found that the Atlantic Conveyor belt is not slowing down as much as previously thought.
The circulation of currents, also known as the Gulf Stream, keeps Britain warm and it was feared that if it slows down suddenly it could cause a ‘second ice age’.

The scenario was used in the Day After Tomorrow film and has even been blamed for the recent cold snaps, but it appears it is unlikely to affect Britain this century.
The revisions will be pounced on by sceptics as evidence that the Met Office has exaggerated climate change, especially after the debacle over last year's washout "barbecue summer"

However Vicky Pope, head of climate change advice, pointed out that overall the report found that most global warming predictions are the same or worse than previously thought.
“The evidence of the dangerous impacts of climate change is now clearer than ever,” she said.
The report looked at all the recent peer-reviewed papers on climate change on behalf of the UK Government.

The idea was to reassess the threats since the last major study on global warming was carried out by the United Nations science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in 2007.

It found that the melting of the Arctic is happening faster than thought, with ice free summers expected by the middle of this century.
Also deforestation could speed up as droughts in the Amazon cause massive forest fires.
It found that other dangerous ‘feed backs’ such as the methane released by thawing permafrost or wetlands is more likely as more evidence emerges.

“In most cases our new understanding has reinforced the last major study in 2007 – the degree of impact is about the same. In some cases our understanding leads us to conclude that the risks are greater,” added Dr Pope.

The report was launched at the UN Cancun Climate Change talks to highlight the threat of global warming.
More than 190 countries are gathered in the luxury resort in Mexico to decide the best way to stop global warming.

However the talks are at a deadlock at the moment as countries are failing to decide the best way to cut emissions.
Countries remain at loggerheads over whether to continue the Kyoto Protocol, which is the only existing agreement on global warming, or start again with a new legal treaty.

Chris Huhne, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, is flying out to try and find a middle ground.
He insisted the talks are on track to an eventual legal treaty to stop global warming.
“The mood has been cautiously positive. People are talking. The show is on the road,” he said.
“But it is not enough. If we are to meet our objectives and lay the groundwork for a binding deal, week two must bring more urgency, more compromise, and more commitment.”

Links :

• DailyMail : Alarmist Doomsday warning of rising seas 'was wrong', says Met Office study
  
• TheIndependent : Rising sea level threatens 'hundreds' of Caribbean resorts, says UN report
• TheGuardian : Don't consign us to history, plead island states at Cancún
  
• NYTimes : As glaciers melt, science seeks data on rising seas