15 



for the exploration and exploitation of the 

 mineral resources underlying the high seas 

 and the conduct of scientific inquiry in the 

 oceans 

 • Improvement and extension of the ex- 

 isting network of international fisheries 

 agreements. 



The considerations involved in these rec- 

 onnnendations are too complex for a brief 

 summary and are given in detail in Chapters 

 4 and 5. 



Exploring, Monitoring, Predicting, and 

 Modifying the Environment 



The Nation must have a comprehensive 

 system for monitoring and predicting the 

 state of the oceans and the atmosphere. The 

 United States has the beginnings of such a 

 system today, but it is inadequate to our 

 needs and its organization is fragmented. 

 Weather and ocean forecasts and warnings 



Unmanned research buoys like the 

 ocean data station Bravo, seen here 

 under tow hn the Coast Guard cutter 

 Yocona, are being used to gather 

 and transmit oecanographic and 

 mctcnrologieal data automatically. 



I 



|p**,:'-:7^j 



produced by such a system are essential to all 

 one may wish to do in the sea and are critical 

 to almost all human, industrial, agricultural, 

 and commercial activities on the land. They 

 are essential for sea and air transportation, 

 resource exploration and exploitation, aqua- 

 cultural and water management, and above 

 all, the protection of life and property. The 

 Department of Defense also has pervasive 

 needs for envii-onmental services. 



The oceans, the atmosphere, and certain 

 aspects of the solid earth are interacting 

 parts of the total geophysical environment. 

 They cannot be understood, monitored, or 

 pi-edicted except as parts of a single system, 

 and technology for their monitoring and pre- 

 diction lias major common elements. This sys- 

 tem is planetwide. It determines weather 

 and climate everywhere and affects both 

 land and sea operations. 



The Commission has been impressed by 

 the accelerating need not only to monitor and 

 predict global environmental conditions but 

 also to undei-stand the nature of the many 

 different kinds of modification of man's en- 

 vironment that are now taking place. Grow- 

 ing technological capabilities enable man to 

 intervene in natural environmental processes 

 for beneficial ends. Recent developments in 

 weather modification indicate that we have 

 embarked upon a course which can hold great 

 promise for mankind. In the Commission's 

 view, the problems of environmental modifi- 

 cation are inseparable from those of environ- 

 mental monitoring and prediction. 



Development of a Comprehensive Global 

 Environmental Monitoring and Prediction 

 System 



New technological developments like satel- 

 lites, buoys, horizontal sounding balloons, 

 high-speed communications, and new data 

 processing systems now offer promise for the 

 development of a comprehensive national en- 



