| > Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 20, Number 4 |
2007, Oceanography 20(4):10–14, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2007.19
COMMENTARY | Endowments and New Institutions for
Long-Term Observation
Authors | First Paragraph | Full Article | Citation
Authors
D. James Baker is an oceanographer, former Administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and a Science and Management Consultant in Philadelphia, PA, USA
Raymond W. Schmitt is Senior Scientist, Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA
Carl Wunsch is Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physical Oceanography, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
First Paragraph
An ever-increasing volume of publications on the changing ocean environment underscores the requirement for long-term observations to understand and predict ocean and climate change. Such observations must be globally distributed and carried out over long time periods. But a means of obtaining those observations—particularly in the ocean—is not in place today. There is no global system of routinely funded, long-term, high-quality measurements to provide the necessary understanding of climate in general and the ocean in particular. The scientific literature is full of examples of tantalizing short records that do not illuminate the physical problems. Long-term biological measurements are in an even more limited state of development. With society demanding better forecasts, and the need to quantify the human role in climate change, it is more important than ever that we find ways to establish the necessary institutional basis for and achieve the proper levels of funding for long-term measurements.
Full Article
Citation
Baker, D.J., R.W. Schmitt, and C. Wunsch. 2007. Commentary: Endowments and new institutions for long-term observation. Oceanography 20(4):10–14, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2007.19.