1998 Year of the Ocean Marine Science, Technology, and Research 



PREFACE 



Last year, a farmer in South Dakota lost his crop because of unpredictable, adverse 

 weather. Consequently, he is very worried about weather patterns and their potential to adversely 

 effect his soybean crop for the next season. Yet, he is unaware that the accuracy of long-term 

 weather forecasts can improve dramatically via the implementation of models which look at how 

 the ocean and atmosphere interact on a seasonal basis. The ocean sciences community is on the 

 verge of giving this farmer a powerful set of new tools, and allowing him to plan more 

 effectively. 



An investment firm determines that coastal resort development is a sector for venture 

 capital expenditure, but it needs a good risk assessment regarding the long-term prognosis for 

 coastal environmental conditions. The firm seeks expertise to advise it on such issues as natural 

 coastal hazards, and possibly anthropogenically induced processes including red tide blooms. 

 The ocean sciences community knows how to better satisfy this firm's needs. 



The U.S. Navy determines that rapid deployment of forces, in support of a policy of 

 strong forward presence, requires improved understanding of certain oceanographic processes, 

 especially in specific coastal regions. The skills required for acquiring the necessary data are held 

 by scientists in the academic and industrial community. The Navy needs a way of getting these 

 scientists to work intensively with the Naval oceanographers for several months at the Navy 

 facility. The ocean sciences community can facilitate that collaboration through the National 

 Oceanographic Partnership Program, a promising new coordinating mechanism that brings 

 together scientists, educators, and research program managers from all sectors of the federal 

 government., the states, academia, and industry. 



Knowing how oceans can excite young people, a high school teacher in Washington State 

 determines that her students could understand more about science and the interaction of physics, 

 chemistry, biology, and geology by studying the nature of the ocean off their coast, but she is 

 unsure how to get the materials and knowledge she needs to teach the course. The ocean sciences 

 community can help her. 



These illustrative situations involving quality of life, economic development, national 

 security, and scientific literacy are real. Their solutions are of considerable consequence to the 

 people of the world. For indeed, maintaining the food reserves, assuring economic viability of 

 the globe's greatest natural resources, sustaining a peacefiil international political environment, 

 and providing exciting new opportunities to help achieve national science and mathematical 

 educational objectives, are paramount goals. This report clarifies the role of ocean sciences in all 

 of these objectives. 



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