Climate Adaptation Aff

**NotesNOAA is in charge of the satellites but NASA works with them Satellites in poles and in mesosphere We want to move to the usage of satellites by getting a broader view of the ocean and determine trends relevant to warmingCan we adapt? Data influence in policy makers to stop warming Is funding sufficient Is NOAA just bad at managing things? Or is there just no $?Separate agency for oceans – advantage would be this aff and current disputes and lack of solvency thereof

**NOAA Funding is sufficient

Needs More money

The NOAA has crucial breakthroughs and is key to monitor warming but lack of funding inhibits productivity Morello ’12 (Lauren, writer for Scientific American and Senior Science columnist for Climate Central, “Budget Woes Halt Climate Monitoring at 12 Ground Stations,” The Scientific American, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/budget-woes-halt-climate-monitoring-at-12-ground-stations/, 9/4/12, Accessed 6/25/14, arh)The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spends roughly $6 million per year to sample carbon dioxide, methane and nearly 20 other gases using a global network of ground stations, tall towers and aircraft.¶ But faced with shrinking budgets and an uncertain fiscal future, NOAA has stopped measuring greenhouse gas levels at a dozen ground stations, eliminated some aircraft monitoring and cut the frequency of remaining measurements in half. The agency scrapped plans to expand its network of tall towers and is now moving to shut down some of the seven existing sites.¶ The cuts come at a time when governments are pushing for more detailed information about sources and sinks of greenhouse gases. Scientists say the decision to shrink NOAA's monitoring network -- the world's largest -- threatens their ability to provide those answers.¶ "The reality is that countries are making commitments that will cost millions, if not billions, of investment in climate-related work, and governments want more certainty about what's happening, what other countries are doing," said Pep Canadell, executive director of the Global Carbon Project. " We barely have enough to provide what a lot

of agencies are asking for. The prospect of having fewer sampling stations around the world

is a frightening one ."¶ Canadell is one of more than 50 researchers who signed a letter, published last week in the journal Science, warning that additional cuts to NOAA's monitoring program could harm U.S. national security and render useless the hundreds of millions of dollars that several nations, including the United States, have spent developing new CO2-monitoring satellites.¶ Putting a crimp in long-term monitoring¶ The situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.¶ Last year, NOAA sought $5.5 billion but received $600 million less with Congress slashing the agency's ocean, fisheries and research accounts. Lawmakers also approved legislation that mandates automatic, across-the-board spending cuts beginning in January.¶ Agency sources said they have been told to expect a budget cut of at least 5 percent for fiscal 2013, which begins Oct. 1.¶ "What you've got is a critical and small -- in terms of dollars -- operation that is being subjected to targeted strain," said Scott Lehman, a research professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, said of NOAA's monitoring effort. "You don't balance the federal budget on the strength of $6 million programs."¶ NOAA's greenhouse gas monitoring network continues work that began in 1958, when Charles Keeling, a geochemist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, began measuring atmospheric CO2 levels at Mauna Loa, Hawaii.¶ Keeling's monitoring produced the now-famous "Keeling curve," a graph showing the steady growth of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over the last 54 years, from 315 parts per million in 1958 to roughly 392 parts per million today.¶ "Without that, all we are, scientifically, is totally blind about what's happening in the atmosphere," said Taro Takahashi, an ocean scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.¶ NOAA began making its own measurements of CO2 at Mauna Loa in 1974, an effort that eventually expanded to roughly 100 sites around the world where the agency monitors 20 gases that affect the global

carbon cycle using samples collected by ground stations and observatories, tall towers and aircraft (ClimateWire, Dec. 14, 2009).¶ "We like long-term measurements," said Pieter Tans, who leads NOAA's greenhouse gas monitoring effort, which is based at the agency's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "We'd like at certain sites to stay there for many decades, because trends in the differences between sites tell you something about emissions, about changes in uptake or output in large regions."¶ Cuts could reverberate internationally¶

Continuous measurements of atmospheric CO2, carbon monoxide and methane form the backbone of NOAA's monitoring network. They are collected at the agency's six observatories -- in Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Antarctica, American Samoa and California -- and seven tall towers scattered across the United States.¶ NOAA supplements those measurements with air samples collected regularly in flasks on the ground and in the air, which provide information about a broader range of gases and help expand geographic coverage that helps scientists understand local variations in greenhouse gas output.¶ The majority of the monitoring sites are run by "volunteers" who submit samples and data to NOAA at no cost. At other sites, the agency must pay for measurements -- like air samples collected in flasks during regular flights of small, private planes at 15 U.S. sites.¶ Those pay-to-play sites were first on the chopping block when the recent budget cuts began. Now, with NOAA managers anticipating a 5 percent budget reduction in fiscal 2013, scientists in and out of the agency say they're worried that the greenhouse gas monitoring program will be forced to cut personnel.¶ Many say they're concerned that if

NOAA's program continues to shrink, monitoring efforts in other countries could suffer. In addition to operating the largest global network measuring greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances, NOAA maintains standards that ensure other countries doing similar work are of high quality and in compatible formats.¶ The U.S. effort has served as a model -- and a continuing reference -- for programs in Europe, China, India and Brazil.¶ And with a new generation of CO2-monitoring satellites now in development, ensuring the continuation of ground-based measurements of greenhouse gases has taken on new importance, experts said.

Budget cuts kill weather satellites – new funding is key to restart these programs Jones ’13 (Richard, writer for the American Physics Institute quoting a Senatorial Letter, “FYI: The AP Bulletin of Science Policy News, “ March 3, 2013, http://www.aip.org/fyi/2013/047.html, Accessed: 6/25/14, arh)In a letter last month to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank described the projected impacts of a $551 million mandatory reduction in the budget for the Department of Commerce this fiscal year. This cut became effective on March 1 after agreement could not be reached on legislation to avoid sequestration.¶ Selections from this letter follow regarding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) follow:¶ NOAA – Personnel:¶ “As with all our agencies, these impacts are not abstract. They directly affect NOAA employees and partners throughout the country: up to 2,600 NOAA employees would have to be furloughed, approximately 2,700 positions would not be filled, and the number of contractors would have to be reduced by about 1,400. If sequestration is enacted, NOAA will face the loss of highly trained technical staff and partners. As a result, the government runs the risk of significantly increasing forecast error and, the government's ability to warn Americans across the country about high impact weather events, such as

hurricanes and tornadoes, will be compromised.”¶ NOAA - Weather Satellites:¶ “Significant and costly impacts to NOAA's satellites and other observational programs are also certain. For example, sequestration will result in a 2-3 year launch delay for the first two next-generation geostationary weather satellites (currently planned to launch in 2015 and 2017), which track severe weather events such as hurricanes and tornadoes. This delay would increase the risk of a gap in satellite coverage and diminish the quality of weather forecasts and warnings.”

Funding is key to NOAA missions – lack of sufficient funding erodes satellites Morello ’13 (Lauren, writer for Scientific American and Senior Science columnist for Climate Central, “Senate Bill Would Boost Funding for Weather Satellites,” Climate Central, http://www.climatecentral.org/news/senate-bill-would-increase-funding-for-weather-climate-satellites-15725, 3/12/13, Accessed 6/25/14, arh)The $984 billion measure, which Senate Appropriations Committee leaders introduced late Monday, would fund the federal government from March 27 until Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.¶ The bill would increase the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) budget for satellite procurement to $1.814 billion, $117 million more than the agency received last year. NOAA’s overall budget would rise to $5.1 billion, up from $4.9 billion last year. The Senate, which will begin debating the measure Tuesday, is expected to approve it.¶ The bill’s swift passage could help allay fears that the pervasive pressure to reduce federal spending will hamper NOAA’s efforts to develop its next generation of weather and climate satellites. In February, the agency warned that automatic, across-the-board spending

cuts that took effect this month could delay the launches of two geostationary weather

satellites by 2-3 years, diminishing the quality of NOAA’s weather forecasts and warnings .¶ The

House has already responded to such arguments. It passed its own spending bill last week that includes increased funding for NOAA’s geostationary satellite program, known as GOES-R, in line with the more general increase for agency satellites included in the Senate package.¶ But that doesn’t mean that lawmakers are happy about handing over the cash.¶ Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), a longtime NOAA champion on Capitol Hill, has also been one of the harshest critics of the agency’s management of its satellite programs. Last year, as chairwoman of the Senate spending subcommittee that oversees NOAA, she proposed moving the agency’s satellite division to NASA, citing “fussbudgeting and mis-budgeting” — and a fear that NOAA’s growing satellite bill would put the squeeze on the agency’s other weather, fisheries and climate programs.¶ Those concerns linger, judging by the sometimes harsh language in the new Senate spending package Mikulski authored with the Senate

Appropriations Committee’s ranking Republican, Richard Shelby of Alabama. “The value of NOAA’s weather satellite programs cannot be overstated in terms of the data collected that is used to develop daily weather forecasts and provide citizens with ample warning about severe weather,” the Senate plan says. “Unfortunately, certain NOAA satellite acquisition programs, particularly the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), remain mired in cost overruns , missed deadlines, dysfunctional oversight, and lack of transparency in budgeting and planning.”¶

The only barrier to the success of NOAA Satellites is funding Freedman ’12 (Andrew, Climate Central's Managing Editor for Online Content and Climate Policy Analyst, “Key Weather Satellite Goes Offline, May Affect Forecasts,” http://www.climatecentral.org/news/key-weather-satellite-goes-offline-may-limit-forecast-accuracy-15038, 9/24/12, Accessed: June 25, 2014, arh)That would mean the U.S. would be reliant on just one polar-orbiting satellite, rather than the two that have long been in service. NOAA ran up billions in cost overruns for the next

generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites, and delays and a lack of funding from

Congress have put that program, known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), years

behind schedule. ¶ NOAA has warned that such a data gap could significantly erode the agency’s ability to provide advanced notice of significant weather events, such as the “Snowmageddon” blizzard of 2010. The GOES-13 outage also comes soon after an independent NOAA review team criticized the agency’s oversight of its weather satellite programs, according to an article in Aviation Week and Space Technology.

Doesn’t need more money

NOAA budget is already too much as it is – has plenty for satellitesTracton ’12 (Steve, Program Officer for Marine Meteorology at the Office of Naval Research and writer for the Washington Post, “Viewpoint: NOAA Budget Costs too much,” The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/viewpoint-noaa-budget-cuts-cost-too-much/2012/03/30/gIQAnhGXlS_blog.html, 3/20/12, accessed 6/25/14, arh)The NOAA fiscal year 2013 budget request (page 7) included in the Obama Administration’s submission to Congress, calls for more than $2 billion dollars for the agency’s weather satellite programs, an increase $163 million from 2012. Not surprisingly, the increase means other areas within NOAA are slated for decreased funding. Of interest here is that the President’s 2013 budget for the National Weather Service (NWS) reduces funding by $36.4 million in operations and research (page 4-63).¶ Is there something wrong with this picture of enormous investments for satellites at the expense of relatively miniscule costs of valuable components of NWS’s operational mission? In the opinion of many, including myself, the answer is a confident yes.

NOAA’s problem isn’t funding – its misconduct and mismanagement Miller ’12 (Jason, writer for FNR, “Sen. Brown wants the NOAA chief fired for agency misconduct,” http://www.federalnewsradio.com/445/2833411/Sen-Brown-wants-the-NOAA-chief-fired-for-agency-misconduct, 4/19/12, accessed 9/25/14, arh)The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency's administrator is on the hot seat because of allegations of misconduct and abuse by bureau officials.¶ Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) is asking the White House to fire NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco for her inaction after the Commerce Department's inspector general found mismanagement and potential fraud and abuse of millions of dollars in the agency's Fisheries Enforcement Asset Forfeiture Fund.¶ The Fisheries Enforcement Asset Forfeiture Fund is charged with overseeing fishermen and fisheries to ensure they follow laws and regulations.¶ Brown said failings of Lubchenco to discipline those involved in violating agency and federal procurement policy shows a lack of understanding of the situation.¶ "The misconduct at NOAA is even more serious than that at GSA, as the NOAA scandals involve wasteful spending that was financed through abusive treatment of both our fishermen and [the] American taxpayer," Brown wrote in his letter to the President on April 13. "The Commerce Department Inspector General has documented that NOAA employees engaged in acts that we believe constitute deliberate breaches of the public trust and arguably the laws of our nation. Despite these multiple reports, no one at NOAA has

been held accountable ."¶ Brown said three senior GSA officials have either been fired or resigned and as many as 10 others are on administrative leave during the investigation of lavish spending at the Western Regions Conference in October 2010.¶ A request to the White House and to NOAA for comments on Brown's letter has not been returned.¶ The Commerce IG found in a November 2011 report that NOAA employees manipulated procurement rules to buy a $300,000 fishing boat, and used the boat on the weekend for personal purposes. The IG said a NOAA procurement attorney advised against buying the boat, yet they did so anyways.

Doesn’t need any more money – China gives the NOAA tech and data Freedman ’13 (Andrew, Senior Science Writer for Climate Central, “OAA Criticized for Likely Satellite Gap and China Option,” http://www.climatecentral.org/news/noaa-criticized-for-likely-satellite-gap-and-china-gap-16514, 9/23/13, accessed 6/25/14, arh)In a controversial finding, a report commissioned by NOAA found that the agency's best alternative would be to turn to China for help. The report said NOAA’s “silver bullet” solution

would be for it to purchase data from China’s polar-orbiting satellites to compensate for lost

U.S. data. ¶ China plans to launch its next generation of polar-orbiting satellites later this year and in 2014, ahead of the U.S. new polar-orbiting satellites, and the capabilities of the Chinese satellites are expected to be comparable to U.S. spacecraft, the study said.¶ The European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts, which maintains one of the most accurate medium-range weather models in the world, already incorporates the Chinese data in experimental ways, and plans to use it operationally if there is a data gap from U.S. satellites, the study said.¶

NOAA satellite costs only projected to go downSarkar 6/20(Dibya, writer for FierceGovernmentIT, “IG: NOAA's next-gen satellite program cost estimate more solid, but subject to change,” http://www.fiercegovernmentit.com/story/ig-noaas-next-gen-satellite-program-cost-estimate-more-solid-subject-change/2014-06-20, 6/20/14, accessed 6/25/14, arh)While the latest estimated cost of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's next-generation environmental satellite program is more solid, several factors could potentially affect that figure, according to a new audit.¶ In its third report (pdf) on the progress of the Joint Polar Satellite System, or JPSS, program, the Commerce Department IG offered several concerns and recommendations regarding the overall $11.3 billion cost, schedule and capabilities.¶ While NOAA is on schedule to launch the first of two satellites now in development, the report said that timeline could still be affected by activities that are underway. And even though the agency is taking steps to lessen a potential gap in critical forecasting data – if the old satellite fails before the new one comes online – it hasn't clearly explained the impact of such a data loss, according to the report. While the latest estimated cost of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's next-generation environmental satellite program is more solid, several factors could potentially affect that figure, according to a new audit.¶ In its third report (pdf) on the progress of the Joint Polar Satellite System, or JPSS, program, the Commerce Department IG offered several concerns and recommendations regarding the overall $11.3 billion cost, schedule and capabilities.¶ While NOAA is on schedule to launch the first of two satellites now in development, the report said that timeline could still be affected by activities that are underway. And even though the agency is taking steps to lessen a potential gap in critical forecasting data – if the old satellite fails before the new one comes online – it hasn't clearly explained the impact of such a data loss, according to the report. Under the JPSS program, established in 2010, NOAA is currently developing two, next-generation satellites – JPSS-1 and JPSS-2 – with advanced capabilities and a ground system to replace the existing legacy polar satellite.¶ While the program's estimated life-cycle cost has been lowered from $12.9 billion to $11.3 billion – a "more

reliable" figure that was independently validated, the report said – auditors pointed out several factors that could still affect the revised figure.¶ They include further changes to lowering the risks of a data gap, coordinating with other programs, making schedule adjustments and other cost issues. NOAA may also have to revise the estimate if it considers additional missions beyond JPSS-2, which is scheduled to launch first quarter fiscal 2022.¶

Satellites are fully-funded now – no new money needed Ferster 1-16 (Warren, Staff reporter covering White House space policy for SpaceNews, “Omnibus Fully Funds Primary NOAA Satellites, Stiffs Free Flyer,” http://www.spacenews.com/article/civil-space/39131omnibus-fully-funds-primary-noaa-satellites-stiffs-free-flyer, 1-16-14, accessed 6/25/14, arh)The U.S. government’s primary civilian weather satellite programs are fully funded in an omnibus spending measure for 2014 that also requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to submit to lawmakers a plan in the coming weeks for ensuring long-term coverage.¶ However, the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2014 (H.R. 3547), which passed the House Jan. 15 and the Senate Jan. 16, does not fund an adjunct satellite intended to host instruments that cannot fit on NOAA’s primary polar-orbiting platforms. U.S. President Barack Obama signed the legislation Jan. 17.¶ NOAA operates two primary satellite systems, a geostationary-orbiting system for continental coverage and a polar-orbiting system for global coverage. Budget difficulties and delays have led to concerns about gaps in coverage, primarily from polar orbit, as age pushes the existing systems into retirement.¶ The omnibus spending bill, which funds the entire federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2014, provides $955 million for the Geostationary-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R system under development by Lockheed Martin Space Systems and now slated to begin launching in 2016. That sum is level with NOAA’s request.¶ NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System program is allotted $824 million in the bill, a lso per the agency’s request . The first satellite in that system, being built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and slated to launch in early 2017, is nearly identical to the Ball-built Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite launched in late 2011.¶ In a report accompanying the legislation, the House and Senate appropriations committees cited an independent assessment that said NOAA is making progress on the GOES-R and JPSS programs. But that assessment, along with others by the Commerce Department’s inspector general and Government Accountability Office, identified program risks including the possibility of a gap in JPSS coverage.