Drastic Cuts to National Weather Service Budget Proposed

Many of you may recall that I wrote recently on this blog that I will likely have to go to part time, or eventually worse, at UAH starting this Summer, in part due to budget cuts in atmospheric research. 

But, despite my own personal feelings about new tornado research in the Southeast, and my own financial loss due to losing my full-time job, this latest news is a bigger deal. House Republicans proposed a resolution this week that would cut the budget of the National Weather Service by 30% in the second half of FY 2011. According to an NWS source, this would mean furloughs and rolling office closures for 27 days at a time. So, for 27 days, the people of central Alabama would have to count on the NWS office in Atlanta to issue our tornado warnings, forecasts, and aviation weather. Imagine a severe weather outbreak here in April or May, with people primarily unfamiliar with our state, its media, its EMA directors, and its Spotter Network, issuing and disseminating tornado warnings for us. (It would go the same way for people in Georgia when it was their turn). Or, a hurricane headed for Mobile while their office is closed and being handled by a backup in Tallahassee.

I am not casting doubt on the ability of meteorologists in ATL to handle the job, but they would tell you it is very difficult to handle a severe weather outbreak in unfamiliar territory.  Suppose then the NEXRAD radar at NWS BMX went out.  Normally, technicians are at work or on call 24/7 to fix this.  But, would someone have to drive 3 hours from Atlanta to fix it, when it could be too late in a tornado outbreak.

But, there’s more.  NWS source says they may also reduce upper-air balloon releases from twice per day to once or even less.  Data from surface observation stations may also be limited due to lack of maintenance, etc.  The data from the balloons is the primary input to forecast models like the NAM, and thinning them out spatially or temporally would degrade the model output and ability to forecast severe weather outbreaks, hurricanes, and floods.  The budget cuts may also extend to SPC (who issues tornado watches) and NHC (hurricane watches and warnings). 

Read more about this story on PR Newswire here.

I fully understand that the United States is currently in a serious budget crisis.  We have a debt of $14 trillion, and an annual deficit adding $1.3 trillion to that in 2011 alone.  We have to either increase tax revenue (raise tax rates and/or grow the economy) or decrease spending.  However, the preamble to the constitution indicates that the government is to establish justice and tranquility, provide defense, promote general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to “ourselves and our posterity”.  Now, take a look at the federal budget piechart below.

www.makingamilliondollars.com

Since some of the numbers are small, I will go through a few and compare them to the constitutional role of government.  First of all, let’s look at what the government considers mandatory spending:  social security (20%), Medicare and Medicaid (21%), unemployment and welfare (16%), and interest on debt (5%).  So, entitlement programs comprise 57% of the budget. 

Then there’s defense, VA, and homeland security, totaling 21%.  Fine.  Constitutional and necessary. 

Now we’re left with the other 17% of the budget, that has to pay for everything else!  Interstates, FBI, education, energy, treasury, NOAA, NASA, EPA, Corps of Engineers, National Science Foundation (research), and many others.  Aren’t these agencies (in addition to defense) under justice, defense, and general welfare?  The National Weather Service budget of $850 million is 0.03% of the budget.  Is cutting small programs like this (along with possibly the FBI and EPA, according to published reports) what George Washington would tell us to do?  Maybe so.

Comments are welcomed.

Category: Headlines