The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed over two hundred thousand people in the fifteen countries the tsunami struck. Amidst extensive media coverage, the New Zealand Herald published in excess of two hundred online articles focusing on the event and aftermath. Representations of death and the dead within these articles are often stereotypical and formulaic. Discourse analysis revealed that death and the dead are represented through both metaphorical images and abject descriptions on two distinct scales. Both the bodies and the characters of the dead are handled explicitly according to socially acceptable trends. The dead are also situated spatially with specific identities constructed and reported on. Utilising discourses from throughout the social sciences, analysis of online publications reveals the way perceptions of media consumers to death both inform and are informed by media producers.

Graduation date: 1985

A mesoscale tropical channel model is constructed to study the long-standing problem of the initiation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). Two observed cases of MJO are chosen, one in boreal spring and one in boreal winter, without a priori knowledge of their initiation mechanism. With initial and lateral boundary conditions provided by a global reanalysis, this model is able to reproduce the initiation and gross features of two observed MJO events up to two months after the start of simulations. This leads to a conjecture that these two MJO events are generated by the influences from the lateral boundaries. This conjecture is supported by a series of sensitivity tests. These sensitivity tests demonstrate that the simulated MJO initiation does not critically depend on detailed characteristics of sea surface temperature (varying vs. constant in time, mean distribution from boreal spring vs. winter), initial conditions (within a 10 day period, perturbations in the initial conditions), the latitudinal location of the lateral boundaries (21 - 45˚N and S), and even latent heating and moist processes. The only factor found critical to the reproduction of the MJO initiation is time varying lateral boundary conditions from the reanalysis. When such lateral boundary conditions are replaced by time independent conditions, the model fails to reproduce the MJO initiation. The analysis of moist static energy has revealed that the discharge-recharge mechanism is not sufficient for the MJO initiation in the model. It is found that the latitudinal transport of westerly momentum from the extratropics is crucial in generating the lower tropospheric westerlies in the reanalysis and model. The energy source for the extratropical perturbation is through extraction of kinetic energy from the mean flow. The estimation of wave activity flux has revealed that there is a major region over the southern Indian Ocean, which produces wave activity flux towards the tropical genesis region of the MJO initiation. We have also investigated the time-scale of the boundary conditions that are responsible for the MJO initiation. Additions of small perturbations in the boundary conditions, and use of 10-day interpolated boundary conditions do not affect the MJO initiation. Thus boundary conditions responsible for the MJO initiation in the model must have time scales greater than 10 days, indicating that the shorter time scale stochastic forcing through the lateral boundaries did not play any major role. The estimation of the zonal momentum budget for the MJO initiation region has revealed the importance of the advective terms, particularly by the meridional winds before the onset of the MJO. The importance of the extratropical influences in initiating the MJO in the channel model leads to a speculation that a multi-year simulation using a tropical channel model would also produce reasonable MJO statistics if forced by time varying boundary conditions. Interestingly, the MJO statistics in the multi-year simulation using a tropical channel model is found to be not better than the global models. Increase of horizontal resolution and use of a different cumulus scheme did not improve the MJO simulation. We found that the error in the mean state was the main reason for the lack of MJO statistics in the model. The model took less than five days for the error to reach its climate bias. Thus, a good simulation of the mean state is important for the successful simulation of the MJO. Implications of these results are discussed. In short, this study has shown that the extratropical influences can be an efficient mechanism for the MJO initiation and calls for further research attention to this mechanism that has been somewhat neglected by mainstream MJO research.

With the economic reform and liberalization that accompany the increasing demand in energy, China has surpassed Japan, becoming the second largest energy consuming nation all over the world. Energy from the Middle East and Africa should be delivered through the ocean route from Indian Ocean to the Strait of Malacca. China imported 203.8 million tons of oil in 2009, for an increase of 14.8%, having surpassed Japan and leaving the United States as the second largest oil consuming nation. For oil delivery and energy supply safety, China has much room for improvement in the capability of safeguarding long-distance delivery; a sophisticated cross-ocean navy has not yet been established. On one hand, China has built strongholds along the oil delivery route connecting the Middle East to China, which is the so-called ¡§string of pearls¡¨ strategy. The nations with diplomatic relations with China along the route, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Cambodia have cooperated with China to give it the right to build ports or to use their important ports to improve oil delivery safety. Developing a command of the sea has remained the ambition of China¡¦s navy in recent years. The substantial measures to gain control of the seas require a naval fleet equipped with long-term offshore combat capability. If conflicts occur in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, China¡¦s surface vessels probably can not handle them since they lack air superiority. Therefore, China proactively builds its cross-ocean naval fleet, including ushering in large surface vessels and submarines imported from Russia, or self-developed. China has also recently stated that the development of a functional aircraft carrier is part of the future direction for its cross-ocean naval force.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Joel Best, Dept. of Sociology & Criminal Justice. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 296-341).

Thesis (M.S. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): Russell L. Elsberry, Patrick A. Harr, Mark A. Boothe. Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-120). Also available online.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Seamounts are poorly understood ubiquitous undersea features, with less than 4% sampled for scientific purposes globally. Consequently, the fauna associated with seamounts in the Indian Ocean remains largely unknown, with less than 300 species recorded. One such feature within this region is Walters Shoal, a shallow seamount located on the South Madagascar Ridge, which is situated approximately 400 nautical miles south of Madagascar and 600 nautical miles east of South Africa. Even though it penetrates the euphotic zone (summit is 15 m below the sea surface) and is protected by the Southern Indian Ocean Deep-Sea Fishers Association, there is a paucity of biodiversity and oceanographic data. Thus, a multidisciplinary cruise was initiated in May 2014 on the FRS Algoa as a component of the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme. The research presented here focuses exclusively on the diversity, bathymetric distribution patterns and biogeographic affiliations of the sponge fauna of this seamount. Sponges were sampled using SCUBA and a roughed epibenthic sled, from the peak and down two opposing slopes of the seamount, to a depth of 500 m. Two hundred and fifty-five sponge specimens were collected, comprising 78 operational taxonomic units (OTU’s), 23 of which are known to science, 26 which are possibly new, 16 that could only be identified to higher taxonomic levels and 13 that could only be designated as morphospecies. Thirteen OTU’s are formally described here, four which are known, and nine possibly new to science. Sponge assemblages demonstrated no significant difference according to location on the shoal, with several species shared by both the western and eastern flanks. In contrast, sponge assemblages differed significantly according to depth, with the mesophotic zone (31 – 150 m) acting as a transition between the shallow (15 – 30 m) and submesophotic (> 150 m) zones. Species richness and the number of putative new species was highest in the submesophotic zone. Biogeographical affiliations were found with both the Western Indo-Pacific and Temperate Southern African realms based on the 23 known species recorded. No affiliations were found with the West Wind Drift Island Province, as has been documented previously for the fish fauna of this seamount, possibly due to the incomplete nature of the online database (World Porifera Database) used to assess affinities. Thirty-nine percent of the known sponge species found at Walters Shoal Seamount are widely distributed in the Indian Ocean, 35% are found exclusively within the Western Indian Ocean region, with this study representing the southernmost distribution record for several of these, and 26% have a restricted distribution around South Africa. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Currently, 48% and 71% of the infrastructure for Mombasa and Lamu respectively falls within the Low Elevation Coastal Zones (LECZ) of less than 10m thus highlighting their extreme vulnerability under the pessimistic sea-level-rise (SLR). Based on the primary objective of assessing the impacts of climate-change-induced SLR for the two island cities, this study finds that by the end of this century, close to 50% of Mombasa Island and almost 71% of Lamu Island fall under threat of inundation from SLR enhanced storm surges of a one storm surge in 100 years. The study objectives were to assess initial SLR vulnerability levels for the Kenyan coast, analyse status quo vulnerability perceptions and awareness, co-produce mitigation and adaptation policy options and produce an integrated vulnerability assessment atlas and manual for SLR along coastal cities, with participatory processes as a key component. SLR scenario modelling using GIS techniques (and guided by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC) under two SLR scenarios of Regional Concentration Pathways (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5), was applied to estimate the spatial extent, population, and infrastructure under threat. Participatory Action Planning (PAR) based on a mini-charrette was used to analyse status quo perception and awareness of SLR and related impacts followed by co-creation of adaptation and mitigation strategies. Under RCP 2.6 (optimistic-scenario) the simulation findings indicate that exposure level to the 1:100 storm surge for Mombasa County at 4m elevation falls between 433,300 and 2.5 million people and over US$9.1 billion in assets exposed by 2090. Under RCP 8.5 (pessimistic-scenario) for Lamu, the exposure level of between 37,200 and 480,400 people and over US$ 648 million in infrastructure/assets is exposed by 2090. Under increased urbanization, vulnerability for both Mombasa and Lamu increases to over 2.6 million inhabitants and US$ 14.5 Billion and US$ 1.2 Billion respectively by 2090 under RCP 8.5. The participatory process showed improvement in the awareness of SLR impacts by participants in both islands and thus constituted the basis of co-production of adaptation and mitigation strategies as well as finalisation of the vulnerability atlases of the island cities. Keywords: Sea-level-rise, vulnerability assessment, climate change, Kenyan coast and coastal planning. / GR2018

Thesis--Faculté des lettres de Paris. / Includes bibliographical references.