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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Wikipedia
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - Wikipedia

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ˈnoʊ.ə ) is a Washington, D.C.–based scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce, a United States federal government department. The agency is charged with forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep sea exploration, and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the U.S. exclusive economic zone. NOAA traces its history back to multiple agencies, some of which were among the oldest in the federal government: United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, formed in 1807 Weather Bureau of the United States, formed in 1870 Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, formed in 1871 (research fleet-only) Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, formed in 1917 The most direct predecessor of NOAA was the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), into which several existing scientific agencies such as the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Weather Bureau and the uniformed Corps were absorbed in 1965. NOAA was established within the Department of Commerce via the Reorganization Plan No. 4 and formed on October 3, 1970, after U.S. President Richard Nixon proposed creating a new agency to serve a national need for "better protection of life and property from natural hazards... for a better understanding of the total environment... [and] for exploration and development leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources". NOAA is a part of the Department of Commerce rather than the Department of Interior because of a feud between President Nixon and his interior secretary, Wally Hickel, over the Nixon Administration's Vietnam War policy. Nixon did not like Hickel's letter urging Nixon to listen to the Vietnam War demonstrators, and thus punished Hickel by not putting NOAA in the Interior Department. In 2007, NOAA celebrated 200 years of service in its role as successor to the United States Survey of the Coast.

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