There’s sarcasm in that thar post title.
Seen on the AP wire:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is spending up to $4 million to publicize a 200th anniversary celebration, said Bill Proenza, who heads the hurricane center, part of the National Weather Service, which is a NOAA agency. At the same time, it has cut $700,000 from hurricane research, he said.
You know, Katrina wasn’t all that long ago. Perhaps money would be better spent in improving tropical weather forecasting than in advertising a big party?
Also from the wire service story:
One immediate concern is the “QuikScat” weather satellite, which lets forecasters measure such basics as wind speed and direction. Proenza said the satellite could fail anytime, degrading storm prediction capabilities, and there are no plans to replace it.
Simply amazing.