National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Trouble Ahead: Weather Satellites in 'Rapid Decline'

Number will drop 'precipitously' by 2020

(Newser) - If you like to complain about the unreliability of the weather forecast, get ready to rant: The weather satellites orbiting the Earth are "beginning a rapid decline" in both quality and quantity, a new report finds, and squeezed budgets mean replacements may not be forthcoming. NASA and NOAA Earth...

Obama Wants Power to Merge 6 Trade Agencies

Move aims to cut down on government bureaucracy

(Newser) - President Obama will today announce a plan to mash together six federal agencies—including the Commerce Department—in an effort to simplify the government's sprawling regulatory bureaucracy. Obama can't actually make the move without Congressional approval, however, so he intends to ask Congress for a special reorganizational power—...

Greenhouse Gases Surging: US Report

Carbon dioxide emissions take biggest jump on record

(Newser) - Carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases continued to build in the atmosphere last year, a federal report finds: Between 2009 and 2010, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s yearly index of greenhouse gases—which measures said gases' combined heating effect—jumped 1.5%, to 1.29. It has...

Okla.&#39;s July Was Hottest US Month on Record
 Okla.'s July 
 Was Hottest 
 US Month 
 on Record 
AVERAGE TEMP: 89.1
Aug 8, 2011 5:29 PM CDT

Okla.'s July Was Hottest US Month on Record

Texas also set its own record for hottest July

(Newser) - Sweltering may have reached a new record last month, as Oklahoma racked up the country's highest monthly average temperature ever. That's the highest average temperature, for any month, for any state, associate Oklahoma state climatologist Gary McManus said. According to automated weather recording instruments, the state's average...

Only 10% of Gulf Oil Cleaned Up
 Only 10% of Gulf Oil Cleaned Up 
Aug 19, 2010 7:41 AM CDT

Only 10% of Gulf Oil Cleaned Up

Scientist scolds administration for rosy estimates

(Newser) - Only 10% of the oil that spewed from the Deepwater Horizon well has been "actually removed from the ocean," a leading oceanographer will tell Congress today. Ian MacDonald's testimony throws cold water on a cheerful federal report earlier this month that declared 75% of the oil had either...

Feds: Oil Spill Not Such a Disaster After All!

Only 26% of BP leak is still lurking in the Gulf

(Newser) - The government has decided that the Deepwater Horizon spill wasn’t such a big deal after all. According to a new report coming out today, three-quarters of the oil has already evaporated, dispersed, been captured or otherwise disappeared, according to the New York Times , and most of the remaining 26%...

Scientists Slam White House on Oil Spill Response
Scientists Slam White House on Oil Spill Response
HEAVY OIL HITS SHORE
May 20, 2010 7:45 AM CDT

Scientists Slam White House on Oil Spill Response

Meanwhile, heavy oil hitting Louisiana marshlands

(Newser) - With heavy oil at last washing ashore in Louisiana, scientists are slamming the Obama administration for responding to the Deepwater Horizon spill too slowly, and not investigating enough. “It seems baffling that we don't know how much oil is being spilled,” one oceanographer said on Capitol Hill yesterday....

Much of Spilled Oil Already Gone

Around 35% probably evaporated, model suggests

(Newser) - The Deepwater Horizon disaster has led to the release of million of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but figuring out where it all is has proven kind of hard. Roughly 4.6 million gallons seem to have pooled into a shape-shifting blob off the coast of Louisiana,...

Regulators Let BP Blow Off Wildlife Permits

Endangered species protections simply ignored

(Newser) - The Minerals Management Service appears to have blatantly ignored a law requiring new oil drilling operations to get permits from the agency that assesses risk to endangered species. The MMS gave the okay to the Deepwater Horizon rig and dozens of others without getting the permits, the New York Times ...

Drier Atmosphere Slows Global Warming

10% less vapor in stratosphere kept temperature increase down in 2000s

(Newser) - A decrease in water vapor in the stratosphere may be the reason global warming hasn't increased as fast as expected over the last 10 years. The planet warmed .18 degree from 2000 to 2009, below the forecast .25 degree. A 10% drop in stratospheric water vapor “very likely made...

Taxi-Sized Squid Caught off Louisiana

20-foot creature is the first giant squid ever netted by Gulf researchers

(Newser) - Scientists studying whale diets in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly hauled in a giant squid half as long as a school bus, Reuters reports. The 19.5-foot-long creature dragged up from 1,500 feet below the sea off Louisiana is the first giant squid found in the area in over...

Hawaiian Island to Evict Over-Friendly Seal

Scientists fear monk seal pup raised by people will harm his human playmates

(Newser) - A seal pup that loves human company is facing deportation to hundreds of miles away from his Hawaiian home, the Wall Street Journal reports. Baby monk seal KP2, who often swims with people and even climbs on boogie boards, has become a much-loved local celebrity on Molokai since he showed...

Forecasters Warn of New El Niño

(Newser) - A new El Nino could be approaching. Sea-surface temperatures have been warming in the tropical Pacific Ocean, suggesting the potential for the development of the El Niño climate phenomenon in the next three months, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA Predicts Average Hurricane Season

(Newser) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts the 2009 hurricane season will see nine to 14 tropical storms, of which four to seven will develop into full-fledged hurricanes, the Tampa Tribune reports. As many as three could become Category 3 storms, with winds above 111 mph. The prediction jibes with...

Climate Research Faces Years Without Satellites

Scientists warn that death of aging satellites will leave dangerous gaps in knowledge

(Newser) - Scientists studying climate change are going to lose their eyes in the sky just when satellite data is most needed to make vital decisions, NPR reports. Years of underinvestment and squabbling between government agencies mean the climate satellites now in orbit will fail long before new ones can replace them,...

Caribbean Monk Seal Extinct
 Caribbean Monk Seal Extinct 
Jun 7, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

Caribbean Monk Seal Extinct

Seal only one of its kind to vanish because of human causes

(Newser) - Caribbean monk seals, the sea dwellers first discovered during Columbus’s second voyage in 1494, are officially extinct—the only seal to vanish because of human causes, MSNBC reports. “Humans left the Caribbean monk seal population unsustainable after overhunting them,” a biologist explained. The seal, a native of...

Here We Go Again...
 Here We Go Again... 
May 22, 2008 2:39 PM CDT

Here We Go Again...

Rockier-than-average hurricane season predicted; 5 possibly severe

(Newser) - Federal storm watchers warned of a possible 16 named storms, and five major hurricanes, this year, the Miami Herald reports. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a 65% probability that the hurricane season, which stretches for 6 months from June 1, “may very well be a busy” one....

Warming Will Reduce Hurricanes: Study

New research refutes megastorms fears

(Newser) - Climate change is likely to trigger fewer hurricanes and tropical storms off the Atlantic coast, not more, according to new research that contradicts an earlier study. But future hurricanes will probably be more powerful, according to the research published in Nature Geoscience. The number of tropical storms will likely decline...

Dolphin Dies Near Sonar Site
Dolphin Dies Near Sonar Site
Feb 22, 2008 9:00 AM CST

Dolphin Dies Near Sonar Site

It washes up as Navy is challenging restrictions on tests

(Newser) - Researchers are trying to determine what killed a female dolphin that washed up on an island off the coast of San Diego—an area where the Navy conducted controversial sonar tests, the Los Angeles Times reports. The dolphin washed up as the Navy challenges court-imposed restrictions on the use of...

Scorching '07 Sets New Global Record

Hottest ever for global lands

(Newser) - Last year was the hottest on record for global land masses, with temperatures almost 2 degrees warmer than usual, according to  the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scorching heat waves socked Asia, Europe and the USA, where 2,000 daily temperature peaks were busted. It's an undeniable trend with seven...

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