NOAA Administrator Challenges Nation to ‘Seas the Day’  

Ed Levy
NOAA Office of Communications & External Affairs

July 28, 2009 — In remarks at the Coastal Zone 2009 conference in Boston, Mass., on July 20, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco set forth her vision for U.S. ocean policy.  Excerpts from her keynote address follow:

On a Challenge for the Nation

“I am here today to draw attention to the untold story of oceans in the climate dialogue, to propose approaches to avoid or ameliorate the worst impacts of a warming planet, and to highlight the economic opportunities and societal benefits of healthy oceans and coasts.  In short, I am here, to lay out a grand challenge for the nation:

• Reverse the decline along our coastlines and in the oceans, and
• Restore them to a healthy, productive and resilient state. 
  

 

… These themes of oceans, climate, grand challenges and great accomplishments are my subjects this morning, under the theme of ‘Seas the Day.’ ”

On President Kennedy’s Dual Visions

“When President Kennedy went before Congress in 1961 to propose going to the moon …  I suspect that none of you remembers a subsequent portion of President Kennedy’s moon speech. Right after talking about lunar voyages he asked Congress to allocate $73 million in funding for the Weather Bureau to, in his words ‘help give us at the earliest possible time a satellite system for world-wide weather observation.’ 

"The legacy of that initiative is the world’s most sophisticated satellite weather system, operated by NOAA to provide the weather forecasts we all depend upon.” 

On President Obama’s Ocean Leadership

“Signaling his intent to provide leadership on oceans and asserting our ‘stewardship responsibility to maintain healthy, resilient, and sustainable oceans and coasts … for the benefit of this and future generations,’ the President established an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by his Council on Environmental Quality. 

“The Task Force, with vigorous participation by NOAA and 17 other departments and agencies, is hard at work to develop recommendations for a national policy for oceans, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems, a framework for policy coordination, and an implementation strategy that identifies ways to meet the objectives of the national policy …

“In his charge to the Ocean Policy Task Force, President Obama directly addressed the climate change-oceans link. ‘Oceans both influence and are affected by climate change,’ he said. ‘They not only affect climate processes, but they are also under stress from the impacts of climate change.’ ”

 

On Unanticipated Consequences of Climate Change

“One of the unanticipated consequences of climate change is ocean acidification.  As oceans take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the chemistry of the oceans is altered, which in turn affects corals, shellfish, and other living things that form their shells and skeletons from calcium carbonate ... 

“It is likely that other surprises await us as well, especially in oceans and along the coastal margins.  One such surprise has recently emerged along the coasts of the Pacific Northwest ... Changes in oceanic and atmospheric conditions have resulted in the appearance of hypoxia, a so-called ‘dead zone’ off the coasts of Oregon and Washington … 

“Each summer for each of the last eight years, a zone of low oxygen water develops along the coast. Any animals that cannot flee from the mass of low-oxygen water suffocate and die ... The novel appearance of this phenomenon serves to illustrate how little we really know about how climate change may affect even seemingly robust ecosystems and the services they provide to people.”

On Signs of Progress for Ocean and Coastal Management

“Here in Massachusetts, the commonwealth has launched the first statewide, comprehensive ocean-use management plan in the nation …

“Similarly, NOAA is working toward integrating its modeling, monitoring, observation, and mapping capabilities with our diverse place-based management experience in marine sanctuaries, estuarine research reserves, area-based fisheries, and protected resource areas ...”

 

On Climate and a National Climate Service

“… [O]ur proposed National Climate Service will build upon ongoing NOAA work to predict climate changes and provide details about climate impacts ... 

“The National Climate Service should function by developing and maintaining an infrastructure of observation and information services that rely on a suite of operational satellites and in situ networks for integrated atmospheric and oceanic observations ...”