The final CCPO and Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR) seminar for the Fall 2022 semester will be given by Dr. Piero Mazzini from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (flyer attached). Dr. Mazzini’s research focuses on circulation dynamics of the coastal ocean. His current research documents the occurrence of marine heat waves, which are extended periods of anomalously warm water temperatures, in Chesapeake Bay over the past three decades. Projections based on marine heat wave occurrences suggest that these events will become semi-permanent in Chesapeake Bay by the end of the century. The current and projected marine heat waves have important implications for Bay ecosystems and management of the Bay’s resources.
Information about Dr. Mazzini’s research is available at:
Dr. Eileen Hofmann will host Dr. Mazzini’s seminar. Please contact Dr. Hofmann (hofmann@ccpo.odu.edu) if you want to schedule time to talk with Dr. Mazzini. There will be an informal discussion prior to the seminar starting at 3pm.
Please join via the seminar Zoom link above to join the informal discussion and attend the seminar.
Everyone is encouraged to attend the seminar.
Title: Marine Heatwaves in the Chesapeake Bay: Characteristics, Trendsand Impact on Hypoxia
Abstract
Marine Heatwaves (MHWs) are prolonged events of anomalously warm sea water temperature and have major detrimental effects to marine ecosystems and the world's economy. Thanks to satellite remote sensing of sea surface temperature, significant advances have been made regarding the characterization and impact of MHWs on global scales; however, these data are typically inadequate to resolve most estuarine environments with complex shorelines and reduced spatial scales. In our work, we analyzed a novel data set with over three decades of in situ temperature records to investigate MHWs in the largest estuary in the US: the Chesapeake Bay. Our major findings will be presented in detail, including MHW characteristics in the Bay, their trends, co-occurrence with MHWs in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, relationship to large-scale (basin- to global-scale) climate indices, and impact on Bay hypoxia. Projections of trends found in our work suggest that, by the end of the century, the Chesapeake Bay will reach a semi-permanent MHW state, when extreme temperatures will be present over half of the year, and thus could have devastating impacts to the Bay ecosystem and regional economy. Improving our basic understanding of MHWs and their trends in the Chesapeake Bay is necessary to guide management decisions in this valuable environment.
Biography
Dr. Piero Mazzini is a coastal physical oceanographer. In 2020, he joined the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary in the role of Assistant Professor. The overall goals of his research program are: 1) to advance our understanding of coastal circulation and hydrodynamics, with a special emphasis on questions that are relevant for transport and dispersion of materials and substances in estuaries, embayments, and the broader continental shelf, and 2) to understand the role of climate change and variability affecting dynamics of those environments. His research involves a combination of ocean observing field work, analysis of satellite remote sensing data, and other long-term historical data sets, as well as numerical modeling.
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Mazzini_Seminar.pdf (452.5 KB)