January 12, 2010 Gulfstream IV will be collecting data over the Pacific Ocean to improve winter storm forecasts. High resolution (Credit: NOAA) NOAA’s Gulfstream IV aircraft, known for investigating Atlantic hurricanes, will begin flying over the North Pacific Ocean to fill gaps in atmospheric observations, which will enhance forecasts of winter storms for the entire North American continent through improved computer modeling. The highly specialized twin turb...

Agency Seeks Comments January 5, 2010 NOAA’s Fisheries Service is seeking public comment on a proposed rule to expand critical habitat for the endangered leatherback sea turtle by designating more than 70,000 square miles in three areas in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. Currently, leatherback critical habitat is the Atlantic coastal waters adjacent to Sandy Point Beach, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The proposed revision would expand cr...

January 8, 2010 Snowfall accumulation from the Dec. 18-21, 2009 storm. High resolution (Credit: NOAA) To the surprise of no one affected by the Dec. 18-20, 2009 system that dumped heavy snow from the mid-Atlantic to southern New England, NOAA has rated the storm a Category 3 or “Major” winter storm on NOAA’s Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, also known as NESIS. NESIS characterizes and ranks Northeast snowstorms, using data calculated by NOAA’s National Climatic ...

January 11, 2010 San Clemente Dam on California's Carmel River.  High resolution (Credit: NOAA.) NOAA joined state and local officials today in a pledge to remove the San Clemente Dam to eliminate a threat to the lives and property of those along California’s lower Carmel River, and help restore the watershed for federally protected steelhead trout. The 89-year old, 106-foot high dam, which once helped bring water to residents of Monterey County, is at r...

2009 yearly precipitation and temperature above average January 12, 2010 NOAA’s State of the Climate report shows the December 2009 average temperature for the contiguous United States was 30.2 degrees F, which is 3.2 degrees F below average. Last month’s average precipitation was 2.88 inches, which is 0.65 inch above the 1901-2000 average. For 2009, the contiguous United States averaged 53.1 degrees F, which was 0.3 degrees warmer than average. The U.S. averaged 31.47 inches of ...

January 14, 2010 NOAA joined federal, state, and local groups on Wednesday in Alviso, Calif., on the shores of San Francisco Bay to view the breaching of an earthen levee at a South Bay salt pond, an important step in the $7.6 million Recovery Act project to restore 2,000 acres of wetlands. The restoration project will increase habitat for threatened and endangered species such as steelhead trout, migratory birds and marine mammals and improve the overall productivity of the bay’s ...

Underwater Communication Network May Sense Tsunamis January 19, 2010 Tsunamis send electric signals through the ocean that appear to be sensed by the vast network of communication cables on the seabed, according to a new study led by Manoj Nair of the University of Colorado and NOAA. Nair and his colleagues used computer models to estimate the size of an electric field created by the force of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami as it traveled over major submarine cables. Salt...

January 20, 2010 NOAA WP-3D Orion aircraft collected ozone data for this study. High resolution (Credit: NOAA) Springtime ozone levels above western North America are rising primarily due to air flowing eastward from the Pacific Ocean, a trend that is largest when the air originates in Asia. These increases in ozone could make it more difficult for the United States to meet Clean Air Act standards for ozone pollution at ground level, according to a new interna...

January 21, 2010 NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco has directed the agency’s enforcement and legal offices to take steps to promote greater transparency in law enforcement, ensure fairness in penalties, and improve lines of communication with commercial and recreational fishermen. The action comes in response to a Commerce Department Inspector General (NOAA is an agency of the Commerce Department) nationwide review issued today that outlines several recommendations to im...

January 22, 2010 Rendering of NOAA's new Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center.  High resolution (Credit: NOAA) NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco was on hand today to mark the start of construction on NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center in Mobile, Ala. The facility will be the regional home to a multi-functional collection of NOAA’s emergency preparedness, response, restoration, and recovery assets and personnel in the Gulf of Mexico. “Twen...

Byproduct of refrigerant chemicals remains in the atmosphere 300 years January 27, 2010 The drilling rig and apparatus neded to drill the hole into the snow and into which the sampling tubes are inserted. High resolution (Credit: NOAA) Despite a decade of efforts worldwide to curb its release into the atmosphere, NOAA and university scientists have measured increased emissions of a greenhouse gas that is thousands of times more efficient at trapping heat than...

January 27, 2010 NOAA awarded the University of Hawaii at Manoa Kewalo Marine Laboratory a $199,996 grant to address the effects of land-based sources of pollution on coral reefs in the Pacific. The money will fund the first year of a five-year, $1 million dollar project. Noah Idechong, current Speaker of the Palau National Congress, discusses environmental impacts of poor land use practices at a village community meeting in Aimeliik State. High resolution (Credit:...

January 28, 2010 A 10 percent drop in water vapor ten miles above Earth’s surface has had a big impact on global warming, say researchers in a study published online January 28 in the journal Science. The findings might help explain why global surface temperatures have not risen as fast in the last ten years as they did in the 1980s and 1990s. Observations from satellites and balloons show that stratospheric water vapor has had its ups and downs lately, increasing in the 1980s and ...

Strengthening science and innovation for the global economy February 1, 2010 Click here to view the full NOAA FY2011 Budget Summary. President Obama today released the 2011 proposed budget for NOAA, requesting $5.6 billion for the nation’s oceanic and atmospheric agency. The request includes investments to strengthen NOAA’s science, promote economic development, strengthen energy and security, sustain oceans and coasts, and protect lives and livelihoods. “T...

Lubchenco Announces Immediate Actions and Long-term Plans February 3, 2010 NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco today instructed the agency’s head attorney and its top fisheries manager to take immediate and long-term actions to improve the agency’s enforcement and legal operations and enhance its relationship with the fishing community. In a memo issued today, Dr. Lubchenco directed NOAA General Counsel Lois Schiffer, and NOAA Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries J...

Scientists Discover Clues into Human Diseases by Studying Dolphins in a Changing Ocean February 18, 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting: Feb. 18 Press Conference – noon (PST); Feb. 19 Symposium 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (PST) A panel of governmental, academic and non-profit scientists speaking today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) unveiled research sug...

February 22, 2010 I was deeply saddened to learn of Sam Hamilton’s untimely death this weekend. Sam was a wonderful colleague for whom we at NOAA had deep admiration.  The NOAA family shares in this great loss to the conservation community, and we extend our sincere condolences to Sam’s family and to all of our colleagues at the Department of the Interior. Sam was, above all, a true champion of wildlife conservation. Those of us who worked with Sam on restoration efforts in the...

New office would target nation’s fast-accelerating climate information needs NOAA launches www.climate.gov as portal for climate science and services February 8, 2010 Individuals and decision-makers across widely diverse sectors – from agriculture to energy to transportation – increasingly are asking NOAA for information about climate change in order to make the best choices for their families, communities and businesses. To meet the rising tide of these requests, U.S. Commerce S...

March 2, 2010 NOAA and Gloucester Fish Exchange, Inc. (owner of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction) agreed late yesterday to settle three pending enforcement cases that involved allegations of handling illegally caught fish and maintaining false records. The settlement involves payment by the Exchange of $85,000 and a 35-day closure (non-consecutive) of the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction, over a three-year period under certain requirements. The days of closure will be coo...

NOAA and coastal states to test tsunami warning communication system March 19, 2010 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program have designated March 21-27 as Tsunami Awareness Week. This designation comes in the wake of last month’s tsunami in Chile and less than six months after a tsunami hit American Samoa, both events resulting in loss of life and property. As part of tsunami awareness week, NOAA’s National Weather Service...