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Benefits of GEOSS in Hawaii
In Hawaii, Earth Observations will:
Expand the ability to predict volcanic eruptions, seismic events and tsunami landfall through the integration of international Earth observation data sets. Better forecasting helps reduce the cost of damage to property and loss of life.
Losses due to lava flows from Kilauea, Hawaii, during the timeframe 1983-1991, including destruction of 181 residences and destruction of visitors' and community centers, totaled to $161 million.1
Integrate international data sets to help detect signs of global climate change and track the effects of global warming, including sea level rise, impacts to coral reefs and coastal degradation.
Weather and climate sensitive industries, both directly and indirectly, account for about one-third of the Nation's GDP, or $3 trillion, ranging from finance, insurance, and real estate to services, to retail and wholesale trade and manufacturing.2
Provide the state with more accurate weather forecasting, reduce the economic impacts to state and private property from large-scale weather events, and save the state 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.3
Pinpoint beach areas impacted by coastal erosion, weather and environmental pollutants.
Economic impact of harmful algal blooms in the United States averages $49 annually million but individual outbreaks can cause economic damage that exceeds the annual average. For example, outbreaks in Chesapeake Bay (1997) cost the Maryland seafood and recreational fishing industries almost $50 million in just a few months.4
Monitor beaches and evaluate swimming and recreational waters 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.5
Expand the ability to track and forecasts storms and other weather-related disasters.
Average annual damage from hurricanes and floods is $10.3 billion, of which:
- hurricanes average $5.1 billion and 20 deaths per year, and
- floods account for $5.2 billion, and average over 80 deaths per year.6
Aid coral reef ecosystem managers in the evaluations of habitat changes that may be related to land-based sources of pollution or coastal development activities.
Provide better information to decision-makers and the public about the potential for earthquakes, including near real-time updates on the extent of potential danger and damage.
Provide the state with critical land cover data as it pertains to invasive plants and noxious weeds that can impact agricultural activity.
Enable us to predict how changing environmental conditions, including sea currents, affect the whereabouts and numbers of fish and marine resources. Provide resource managers information as to where critical fish habitat is and identify scarce fisheries resources. This, in turn, will help sustain the financial income for commercial and recreational fishing each year.
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.7
1 U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.
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 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.