Budget Constraints Could Negatively Impact Weather and Climate Forecasts

Denver, CO -- A lack of Congressional funding may lead to a 25% drop in satellite Earth observations over the next few years.

The NRC report projects observation programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to be in jeopardy within the next five years. Projections indicate that in the year 2017, NOAA weather satellites currently in place will have reached the end of their lifetime, a year before they are scheduled to financially be replaced. One weather satellite would remain in place to use for the entire country, a dramatic decrease in ouput data from the typical two satellites currently in use

thedenverchannel

That is just brillant.

Over a trillion dollars has been spent on the war on terrorism, and security, but we will get wiped out by a hurricane or massive snowstorm.

Especially after 2 years of record breaking weather. From drought, to heat, to snow to floods.

Heat waves cause more death then all the other weather events combined.

But with the recent decision by Congress to allocate less than half of the billion dollars of funding needed to maintain and upgrade the fleet, officials warn of an upcoming gap in the service relied upon by weather forecasters, as well as the armed forces, search-and-rescue teams, energy companies and climate modelers

huffington post

How they can overlook this serious matter is just beyond me.

You know, we're just going to have to get used to it: Wars, whether on drugs, terror, or poorly defended countries, are not going to pay for themselves. We're just going to have to bite the bullet; suck it up and quit crying about it--if I may mix my metaphors.

Besides, without weather satellites, how can we effectively counter global-warming forecasts? We should take up hobbies, instead of second-guessing TPTB on things they'd much rather we have no control over....

you need climate and global forcasting for war too. That is the irony of it.