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Benefits of GEOSS in the District of Columbia
In the District of Columbia, Earth Observations will:
Enable state and local air quality forecasters to issue to the public more timely, accurate, and site-specific warnings regarding bad air quality so that people (especially the sensitive population) may take prudent actions to protect their health. Earth observations will also help state officials decide on the best air quality management practices.
It is estimated that 31 million Americans including 9 million children have asthma. Ground level ozone in the summer time is the chief cause for poor air quality warnings and human exposure to ozone is known to aggravate asthma. Another component of air, airborne particulate matter, is associated with increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for people with heart and lung disease and increased work and school absences.1
Children with asthma miss more than 14 million school days annually and asthma accounts for an estimated 14.5 million lost work days per year.2
In 2000, the 15 states with the highest rates of current asthma prevalence were Arizona, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.3
Help expand the ability to track and forecast natural disasters (such as hurricanes and storms). Through Earth observations, Virginia can have near real-time monitoring that will improve storm and hurricane forecasts and help to dramatically reduce the cost of damage to property and human life.
Hurricane Isabel affected the Washington, DC metro area in the following ways:
- 2 million people could not ride metro, costing a $2.6 million loss in revenue.
- More than 250,000 Federal government non-essential DC employees lost two days of employment with a $147.4 million loss in revenue.
- 1.3 million private/non-governmental DC employees lost two days of employment and $485.5 million in revenue.4
Average annual damage from tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods is $11.4 billion nationally, of which:
- hurricanes average $5.1 billion and 20 deaths per year;
- floods account for $5.2 billion, and average over 80 deaths per year; and,
- tornadoes cause $1.1 billion in damages.5
Give us information on flooding, road loss, and extent of property damage, as well as facilitate clean-up activities. Ground monitors, models, and satellite images give emergency responders and relief crews ways to respond faster (with more geographic precision) and avoid hazards themselves.
Average annual damage from floods is $5.2 billion and over 80 deaths per year.6
Monitor beaches and evaluate swimming and recreational waters in Maryland and Virginia on a daily basis to identify conditions that could cause sickness.
Travel and tourism is the Nation's largest employer and second largest contributor to the GDP, generating over $700 billion annually. Beaches are the leading tourist destination, with coastal states earning 85 percent of all U.S. tourism revenues. Approximately 180 million people vacation and recreate along U.S. coasts every year.7
1 U.S. Centers for Disease Control
2 CDC. Surveillance for asthma: United States, 1980-1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2002;51(SS01):1-13
3 CDC. Self-reported asthma prevalence among adults: United States, 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. August 17, 2001;50(32):682-686.
4 Economic Statistics for NOAA (April 2004- Third Editioin)
5 Cite: National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Environmental and Societal Impacts Group, and the Atmospheric Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society, 2001, Extreme Weather Sourcebook 2001: Economic and Other Societal Impacts Related to Hurricanes, Floods, Tornadoes, Lightning, and Other U.S. Weather Phenomena, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo. Available only online at http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/sourcebook/data.html
6 Ibid
7 Leeworthy, Vernon R., Preliminary Estimates from Versions 1-6:Coastal Recreation Participation, National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) 2000, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Oceans and Coasts, Special Projects Office. Website: http://marineeconomics.noaa.gov.