The science committee of the U.S. House of Representatives this week criticized steps that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has taken to create a National Climate Service, telling NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco that she is ignoring congressional language intended to block its implementation. The dispute is part of a larger battle between the Obama Administration and House Republicans over how to address climate change.
In February 2010, NOAA announced its intention to create a parallel entity to its National Weather Service that would issue long range climate forecasts about future weather conditions such as severe storms, floods, and droughts. The proposed climate service would enable NOAA to answer the increased number of requests for climate change data, Lubchenco told the committee, and would strengthen science across the agency by integrating three data centers, two laboratories, and the Climate Prediction Center. Veteran NOAA climatologist Thomas Karl, director of one of the data centers, serves as transition director, and Lubchenco has hired six new regional climate service directors.
Those actions don't sit well with the Republicans on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, which on Wednesday held an oversight hearing on the activity, for which NOAA has requested $346 million in 2012.
Read the complete story from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.