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Benefits of GEOSS in Maine
In Maine, Earth Observations will:
Track effects of global change. Earth observations will help track potential impacts of global climate change including sea level rise and change in sea temperature.
Weather and climate sensitive industries, both directly and indirectly, account for about one-third of the Nations' GDP, or $3 trillion, ranging from finance, insurance, and real estate to services, retail and wholesale trade and manufacturing.1
Enable state and local air quality forecasters to issue to the public more timely, accurate, and site-specific warnings about episodes of poor air quality so that people (especially the sensitive population) may take prudent actions to protect their health.
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.2
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.3
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.4
Better predict how changing environmental conditions, including sea currents, affect the whereabouts and numbers of fish and marine resources; thereby, giving commercial and recreational fishermen critical information as to where fish are in abundance or identifying scarce fish resources which, in turn, will help sustain the financial income for commercial and recreational fishing each year. One example is that they can predict where the lobster larvae will be due to temperature and currents, and protect those areas for the lobster fishery sustenance.
The economic value added to the national economy by the commercial fishing industry is approximately $28.5 billion yearly. Approximately 17 million Americans engage in marine fishing as a recreational activity and spend approximately $25 billion per year on fishing related activities.5
Help expand the ability to track storms and precipitation. Through Earth observations, Maine can have near real-time monitoring that will improve storm forecasts and help to dramatically reduce the cost of damage to property and loss of life.
Average annual damage from hurricanes and floods is $10.2 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.6
Benefit forestry management through tracking of plant diseases and invasive species, as well as soil moisture and meteorology. Ground-based measures coupled with satellite data can help Maine's foresters improve predictions, planning, and management efforts.
Help protect the fish and wildlife by tracking water quality in Maine's waters.
Recreational fishing tops $20 billion each year.
Pinpoint Maine's coastal areas impacted by erosion, weather, and environmental pollutants such as aquatic blooms and oil spills.
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
Track water temperatures, harmful algal blooms, invasive species, and other environmental factors affecting Maine's lakes and streams.
Economic impact of harmful algal blooms in United States average annually $49 million but individual outbreaks can cause economic damage that exceeds the annual average.8
Provide more accurate weather forecasting and save Maine residents millions of dollars in heating and cooling costs.
The value of understanding the interrelationships between weather variables and electric load can save a small utility at least $0.5 M annually through improved temperature forecasts.9
Analyze land cover and land use changes that may affect vegetation, forestry, and agriculture in Maine.
1 Dutton, John A., Opportunities and priorities in a new era for weather and climate services, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, September 2002, volume 83, no. 9, pp 1303-1311.
2 U.S. Centers for Disease Control
3 CDC. Surveillance for asthma: United States, 1980-1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2002;51(SS01):1-13
4 CDC. Self-reported asthma prevalence among adults: United States, 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. August 17, 2001;50(32):682-686.
5 Fisheries of the United States, 2000, 2001, 2002, http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/. Marine Angler Expenditures in the Northeast Region 1998. NOAA Tech Memo No. NMFS-F/SPO-47.
6 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
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 Admin-istration, NOAA Oceans and Coasts, Special Projects Office. Website: http://marineeconomics.noaa.gov.
8 Hoagland, D.M. Anderson, Y. Kaoru and A.W. White. August 2002. The economic effects of harmful algal blooms in the United States: estimates, assessment issues, and information needs. Estuaries 25 (4b): 819-837.
9 Tribble, A.N., 2003: The relationship between weather variables and electricity demand to improve short-term load forecasting. Ph. D. dissertation, School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 221 pp., from Building The National Cooperative Mesonet: Program Development Plan For COOP Modernization dated October 2003.