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er, ocean, and climate events every hour of every day. that knowledge and information with others, and; to con-

But, you may say, we didn’t have Accuweather, and The serve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and re-

Weather Channel, and the rest of the private weather enter- sources.” With just 12,000 federal employees the agency has prise back in those pre-NOAA days. That’s true, and those always struggled to meet the mission (and done so heroically companies have been extremely helpful and economically at times, as when Superstorm Sandy hit the northeast US in prosperous … due to their reliance on NOAA’s data and 2012), and if anything, needs at least an additional 5,000 forecasts. It’s NOAA that operates 122 Doppler weather employees to be most effective.

radars, 16 environmental satellites, 15 ships (that provide So go ahead, Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump, ? re those NOAA accurate nautical charts and sustainable seafood), and 10 employees and cut the agency’s budget, but have the guts airplanes (including the Hurricane Hunters, and the planes to stand up and take the hit for the deaths and destruction that monitor atmospheric rivers). Without NOAA, someone that result, while saving our wealthiest Americans a whole would have to pick up the bill for all of those assets, and 6¢ per day.

their continuing operations and maintenance costs. And that someone will be the privileged few willing to pay the pri- vate sector the fees and subscriptions that would have to be charged, like one does for Net? ix or Amazon Prime. Wanna know when that hurricane’s going to make landfall, or where those tornadoes are going? Pay up. The preceding was authored by Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., who was

NOAA has historically been grossly under-resourced to NOAA Administrator from 2021-2025. The opinions expressed fully implement its stated mission: “To understand and pre- here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily re- dict changes in climate, weather, ocean and coasts; to share ? ect the opinions of the publisher.

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