U.S. Creates Office to Coordinate Climate Change Data

The Obama administration is creating an office to coordinate and report the latest climate change data, a unit analogous to the National Weather Service that officials hope will help planners, businesses, and the public better understand and prepare for the effects of global warming. The office, which will be part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will assemble about 550 scientists already working on climate issues under one roof. All data will be accessible on a website, www.climate.gov. “As the realities of climate change become more obvious to more people, farmers, businesses, government agencies and public health officials are going to be turning to us for credible, useful and relevant information,” said Jane Lubchenco, administrator of NOAA. Lubchenco said that while the new office is not a response to recent controversies surrounding climate science and the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the government does want to build public confidence in the science and better explain what information is well-established and what research needs to be done.