NOAA
-- SOME PRE-HISTORY
Introduction
The
oceans and atmosphere are interacting parts of the total environmental
system upon which we depend, not only for the quality of our lives,
but for life itself.
We face
immediate and compelling needs for better protection of life and
property from natural hazards, and for a better understanding of
the total environment -- an understanding which will enable us more
effectively to monitor and predict its actions, and ultimately,
perhaps to exercise some degree of control over them.
We also
face a compelling need for exploration and development leading to
the intelligent use of our marine resources. We must understand
the nature of these resources, and assure their development without
either contaminating the marine environment or upsetting its balance.
Establishment
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- NOAA --
within the Department of Commerce would enable us to approach these
tasks in a coordinated way. [1]
With
these words, published in July 1970, President Richard M. Nixon proposed
the creation of a new agency -- the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA).
The proposal,
which was coupled with the creation of the Environmental Protection
Agency, was part of a reorganization effort, which, according to the
reorganization plan itself, was designed to unify the nation's widely
scattered, piece-meal environmental activities and provide a rational
and systematic approach to understanding, protecting, developing and
enhancing the total environment. In addition to a specific responsibility
for the rational development and conservation of marine fisheries,
NOAA was to lead the development of a consolidated national oceanic
and atmospheric research and development program and provide a variety
of scientific and technical services to other Federal agencies, private
sector interests and the general public.
The goals,
responsibilities and programs of NOAA today reflect a continued commitment
to the philosophy which created it. NOAA's primary mission and the
ultimate goal of all its activities is to predict environmental changes
on a wide range of time and space scales in order to protect life
and property, and provide industry and government decision-makers
with a reliable base of scientific information.
Specifically,
NOAA is a science-based agency which has the responsibility to predict
changes in the oceanic and atmospheric environments and living marine
resources, and to provide related data, information, and services
to the public, industry, the research community, and other government
agencies. These efforts range from warnings of severe events on short
time-scales to information on climate shifts over decades or more.
The main purpose of these efforts is to support NOAA's operational
environmental warning, forecast, prediction, assessment, and information
management responsibilities.
Just
as they fulfill NOAA's environmental prediction responsibility, most,
if not all, of the Agency's activities also contribute to the major
Department of Commerce goal of Stimulating Productivity and Economic
Development. Providing reliable forecasts and warnings of changing
environmental conditions (like severe weather) protects life and property
and enables industry to take appropriate actions. NOAA's programs
to predict and assess significant changes in the ocean, coastal and
Great Lakes environments ensures the safe, efficient, and cost-effective
use of those marine environments and their resources and promotes
the development of associated industry. Providing reliable fishery
stock assessments and projections can significantly enhance the magnitude
of the contribution of the domestic fishing industry to the U.S. balance
of trade.
