Trump Moves to More Easily Fire NOAA, DOE Employees
The Trump administration has begun the process of reclassifying workers at some agencies to a new job category with fewer protections, according to two sources familiar with the situation and an email seen by Reuters.The moves, which the sources said are taking place at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Energy, are the first evidence the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is following through on a plan announced in his first day in office to recategorize tens of thousands of government workers to facilitate layoffs and remove career civil servants
White House Could Bypass UN on Deep-Sea Mining
and other factors from the practice.Trump's deep-sea mining order is likely to stipulate that the U.S. aims to exercise its rights to extract critical minerals on the ocean's floor and let miners bypass the ISA and seek permitting through the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's mining code, according to the sources.Such a step could give mining companies a formal permitting process to complete and avoid the potential perception that they aim to mine the ocean's floors without any oversight.The plans are under discussion and could change before
NOAA Scientist Dismissals Spark Protests
More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) building in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday, protesting sweeping layoffs imposed by the Trump administration. According to two current employees, the cuts affected more than 10% of the scientific workforce at the facility.The rally was spearheaded by former U.S. Congressman David Skaggs, a Democrat from Colorado, after whom the NOAA building in Boulder is named. Skaggs, initially expecting only around 100 participants, was surprised by the large turnout, with police estimating attendance at over 1,000.
OPINION: Save a Nickel, Kill a Thousand - The Pennies-Wise, Lives-Foolish Effort to Eliminate NOAA
you’re actually allowed access) to a private company to get those services. And this all assumes that someone is also willing to absorb the capital expenses associated with operating their own air force, navy, and space force. The way you do this is by defunding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), or just simply invoking a reduction in force by removing personnel and incapacitating the agency.With the threat of eliminating NOAA, or even just splitting up its parts, or arbitrarily firing employees, and conducting what amounts to a fire sale, that is the outcome
Integrated Data System for Coral Reefs Enables AI Analysis
, enabling earlier intervention,” according to Central Queensland University PhD candidate Musfera Jahan.Coral reefs make up just 1% of the world’s ocean area but they host 25% of all marine life.The technology will bring together datasets from organisations like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) and Australia’s CSIRO.The study has been published in the journal Electronics
Divers Investigating Aircraft Debris
Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 airplane operated as American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan Washington National Airport and the US Army helicopter collided at 8:47 p.m. ET on January 29, 2025, killing 67 people.Additional larger pieces of wreckage identified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration TopoBathy lidar survey were recovered by the crane and are being offloaded and brought to a secure location for documentation.NTSB investigators continued to document the helicopter wreckage. Several components were removed from the wreckage and arrangements are being made for
Padilla, Murkowski Introduce Bill for Atmospheric River Forecasting
have announced bipartisan legislation that will reduce flood risks and bolster emergency preparedness by improving atmospheric river forecasting to predict the timing and location of these storms more precisely. The Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a forecast improvement program within the National Weather Service. The legislation was announced as major atmospheric river storms bring high winds, heavy rain, and snowfall to California.Atmospheric rivers - often described as “rivers in the sky&rdquo
NOAA Engages Fugro for Hydrographic Survey Services
Fugro has secured a new five-year contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for hydrographic survey services.Under this indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, Fugro will support the creation and maintenance of nautical charts, which ensure safe and efficient maritime navigation within U.S. waters.Projects can be assigned to any of the six companies holding an IDIQ contract based on NOAA’s ongoing priorities.The contract will be administered by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey (OCS), responsible for maintaining the nation’s nautical charts.
VLSFO Oil Spill Remnants Haunt Mauritius Mangroves Three Years Later
obtained a unique chemical ‘fingerprint’ of the spilled oil, which enabled them to confirm its presence in the mangrove sediments.The study also compared the behavior of the Wakashio's VLSFO with traditional marine heavy fuel oils using models developed from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s oil spill scenario tool, WebGNOME-ADIOS.“Our modelling suggested more of the Wakashio’s fuel would evaporate, naturally disperse or sink compared to traditional fuels, but assessing the impact on organisms remains challenging,” Dr Scarlett said.The research
February 2025
