NOAA chief urges study of climate

The administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has no doubt that humans are causing part of the climate changes that are occurring.

"It's a scientific consensus that's out here, and it's supported by everybody I know," added retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr. in an exclusive Deseret Morning News interview.

Lautenbacher spoke with the newspaper shortly after his keynote address at a three-day convention in the Sheraton City Centre in Salt Lake City.

The meeting, "Water Policies and Planning in the West: Ensuring a Sustainable Future," is sponsored by the Western Governors' Association and the Western States Water Council.

In addition to Lautenbacher's talk, Gov. Jon M. Huntsman delivered a keynote speech, and advocacy groups distributed a study that they say shows the proposed Snake Valley pipeline to Las Vegas would harm the environment, ranches and members of an Indian tribe who need the water for culinary purposes.

Lautenbacher told the newspaper that he can think of nothing more important than what's going on with the climate and how that connects with the management of water.

America needs to continue its investment in climate research and climate science, he said. "We don't know everything we need to make the wisest choices at this time." However, well-researched reports are available from the agency, he added.

In discussions about global warming, many people are focusing on the idea of mitigating the problem. "That's hard to do," he said. "We need to think about adaptation as well as mitigation, and science will help us do that." For example, long-range drought predictions could help ranchers adapt to dry conditions before they arrive.

Someday, NOAA's National Integrated Drought Information Systems may allow scientists to predict what growing seasons will be like in a month, next year or in 10 years, he said. Adaptation and mitigation programs "need more research," Lautenbacher said.

Regional centers in which different NOAA functions are brought together are being developed, including one in Salt Lake City. They are intended to make it easier for the agency to connect with the public, whether about reports from the National Weather Service, information about fish laboratories, earth science, atmospheric studies, ocean research or surveying operations.

Previously these entities each communicated with Washington, D.C., in "kind of a hub-and-spoke deal. What we're trying to do now is make NOAA resources available regionally."