Latest National Ocean Service Stories

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Massive hurricanes like Sandy, Isaac and Katrina may cost the United States billions of dollars and thousands of lives, but apparently they don’t deter people from living near these storms’ hardest hit areas. According to a new report from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in conjunction with the US Census Bureau, Americans are flocking to the ocean in record numbers with almost 40 percent of the US population...

Results from new climate adaptation survey A majority of California's coastal planners and resource managers now view the threats from climate change as sufficiently likely that practical steps on the ground need to be taken to protect against growing threats, according to results from a new survey published by Stanford University's Center for Ocean Solutions (COS) and the California Sea Grant. Survey respondents acknowledge the need to prepare for changes along the coast that might...

Today, we're going to tell you about what's available over at NOAA's 'planet arcade'... and we're going to re-visit a 2009 interview with the National Ocean Service's education director to hear about NOAA's very first educational game ... and to learn why there's a growing trend to teach kids using fun gaming experiences. Educational Games Let's start off with what you'll find over at games.noaa.gov. This online portal launched in 2009 with a game called 'WaterLife: Where the Ocean...

Data from a radar network operated by a consortium of scientists along the U.S. West Coast are now a vital component in search-and-rescue, oil spill response and maritime transportation operationsScripps Institution of Oceanography / University of California, San DiegoA network of high-frequency radar systems designed for mapping ocean surface currents now provides detail of coastal ocean dynamics along the U.S. West Coast never before available.The network has grown over the last decade from...

NORTH CANTON, Ohio, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Diebold, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) are working together to set the groundwork for streamlining identity, credential and access management (ICAM) across the agency's entire enterprise. The effort aligns with a developing government-wide ICAM initiative to ensure the interoperability of solutions for physical access control (PACS) and logical access control systems (LACS) across...

With technology similar to that used by physicians to perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, researchers from six institutions"”including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)"”working at the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) in Charleston, S.C., are studying the metabolic activity of a pathogen shown to cause coral bleaching, a serious threat to undersea reef ecosystems worldwide.Coral bleaching is the whitening of living coral due to a disruption of the...

Predicting harmful algal blooms, or HABs, in the Great Lakes is now a reality as NOAA announces an experimental HAB forecast system in Lake Erie. HABs produce toxins that may pose a significant risk to human and animal health through water recreation and may form scum that are unsightly and odorous to beach visitors, impacting the coastal economy. Forecasts depicting current and future locations of blooms, as well as intensity, will alert scientists and managers to possible threats to the...

Symposium to Focus on Ocean's Role in America's Financial Future WASHINGTON, June 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, will give the keynote address to leading government policy makers, scientists, non-governmental groups and federal agency officials at the opening session of the Capitol Hill Ocean Week (CHOW) Symposium, hosted by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF), on June 9th at the Reserve Officers Association building on Capitol Hill....

Health Care Concerns Also NotedNOAA scientists, in a first-of-its-kind report issued today, state that Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), chemicals commonly used in commercial goods as flame retardants since the 1970s, are found in all United States coastal waters and the Great Lakes, with elevated levels near urban and industrial centers. The new findings are in contrast to analysis of samples as far back as 1996 that identified PBDEs in only a limited number of sites around the...

Promotes Holiday Gift Giving that Supports Ocean Awareness and Conservation SILVER SPRING, Md., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF) is offering a unique eco-friendly gift giving opportunity in partnership with OceansForMe.com, the world's first and only ocean registry that allows users to actually purchase their own virtual ocean parcel, identifiable by GPS coordinates, and explore the ocean on an interactive map. For every parcel registered...