OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 101 



G. U.S. PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 



Details of the history and degree of participation of the United 

 States in various international organizations concerned with the 

 oceanic sciences are beyond the scope of this inventory. However, 

 the reader may ^vish to become acquainted with those international 

 bodies in which the United States is represented, or bound bj^ bilateral 

 or multilateral treaty. Brief backgi'oimd data are appended to reveal 

 the scope and interests of these activities.''^ 



1. Worldwide Scientific Organizations 



These organizations are nongovernmental mternational bodies 

 interested in oceanographic fields of science. The objects of such 

 unions are (a) to promote the study of problems relating to their 

 scientific fields; (6) to initiate, facilitate, and coordinate research into, 

 and investigation of, those problems which require international 

 cooperation; and (c) to provide for discussions, comparisons, and 

 pubhcations. 



These bodies are usually sustained by the voluntary part-time 

 work of a small group of devoted scientists elected for limited terms, 

 whose enthusiasm and vitality are usually the greatest elements in 

 their success. 



(a) International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSlf) . — Organized 

 in its present form in 1931 as the parent organization for a number of 

 specialized scientific unions, ICSU was responsible for international 

 coordination of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), its most 

 ambitious and successful undertaking. The seven organizations 

 which are described subsequently are afiiliated with ICSU. 



(6) Special Committee for Oceanic Research (SCOR). — SCOR was 

 organized in August 1957 as a mechanism to extend international 

 marine science activities of the IGY bej'ond its expiration in 1958. 

 Major emphasis is placed on deep ocean measurements, theoretical 

 studies of the djmamics of ocean circulation, studies of the Earth 

 beneath the sea, protein food from the sea, and the role of the 

 oceans in determining present, past, and future climates. One of 

 SCOR's major projects now pending is a cooperative international 

 study of the Indian Ocean, a project involving 16 ships from 11 

 participating countries over an interval of about two years J* 



(c) International Geophysical Cooperation, 1959 {IGC~19o9). — This 

 is a temporary organization for coordination of geophysical programs 

 and data analysis after termination of IGY, including oceanographic 

 observations made under IGY auspices. 



{d) International Union of Biological Sciences (lUBS). — This or- 

 ganization has general interest in biology including that of the oceans. 



(e) International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (lUGG). — This 

 large organization promotes studies of geographical problems, thus 

 automatically including the oceans. Included within the lUGG are 

 the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric 

 Physics (lAMAP) and the International Association of Physical 

 Oceanography, the latter devoted to such projects as production of 

 standard samples of sea water. 



M For more details, see "International and National Or?anization of Oceanographic Activities," an In- 

 formal report of Rictiard C. Vetter prepared October 1959 for the Special Subcommittee on Oceanogiaphy 

 of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. 



M Further implications of U.S. participation in this expedition are discussed in Section IV-C. 



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