Planet NOAA Podcast Episode 1: Welcome to Planet NOAA!

Transcript

[Planet NOAA theme music plays]

SYMONE BARKLEY (HOST): I’m thrilled to welcome you for the very first time to the world of Planet NOAA: From sun to sea and everything in between. I’m your host, Symone Barkley. I’m the National Ocean Service Exhibits Manager and an Education Specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. I am also the host of Ocean Today Every Full Moon, a collection of videos showcasing the beauty and mystery of the ocean realm. From delivering America its daily weather forecasts to unlocking the secrets of the deepest depths of the ocean, NOAA’s impact is truly felt from sun to sea and everything in between. With each visit to Planet NOAA, we’ll catch up on NOAA in the News, check in with our scientists and top experts to better understand the natural world, and visit the Leadership Corner to learn more about how NOAA is enriching life around the globe through science.

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HOST: I’m excited to welcome NOAA Public Affairs Specialist and Climate Scientist, Tom DiLiberto, to take us through NOAA in the News. 

TOM DILIBERTO: Thanks, Symone. I’m excited to join you and shed some light on NOAA’s latest announcements, events and research – and what exactly they mean for folks around the nation. 

HOST: Let’s dive right in. We just published our annual recap of the climate and extreme weather events that took place across the U.S. last year. Can you take us through some of the key highlights? 

DILIBERTO: You bet. The recap from NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information used data from across NOAA’s various line offices to tell us that last year was the nation’s fifth-warmest year on record. We saw the year end with the nation’s warmest December in the 129-year record, with an average temperature of nearly 40 degrees Fahrenheit. We also saw several historic heat waves sizzle in parts of Texas, Arizona, California, Puerto Rico, and even Chicago. Death Valley, California set a daily-temperature record at 128 degrees Fahrenheit over the summer. That’s really hot. Clocking in at a total of 1,376 tornadoes on record, 2023 was an above-average tornado year for the United States, landing at around 10% above the 1991-2020 annual average. Last year, the U.S. experienced 28 separate weather and climate disasters that reached or exceeded $1 billion in damages, the highest number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. on record. With NOAA’s billion-dollar disaster record dating back to 1980, the U.S. has now been impacted by a total of 376 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. You can visit noaa.gov/news for the full report.

HOST: Thanks, Tom. The U.S. Department of Commerce just announced over forty-two million dollars in funding for fishery disaster recovery efforts around the nation in partnership with NOAA. What exactly is a fishery disaster, and how will this funding benefit impacted fishing communities?

DILIBERTO: So, what is a fishery disaster? The team at NOAA Fisheries tells us that fisheries around the nation can experience sudden and unexpected losses, leading to serious economic impact for fishers and their communities. They can be caused by anything from severe weather events to national economic conditions beyond the control of local fisheries. This funding will help communities recover from fishery disasters that occurred within Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, and the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Yurok Tribe fisheries over the last several years. These funds will go a long way in improving fisheries’ long-term economic and environmental sustainability, and will assist local commercial & recreational fishers, charter businesses, and other entities in rebuilding fisheries following disasters. NOAA Fisheries will be working directly with states and tribes on projects that include rebuilding fishery infrastructure, habitat restoration, and job retraining, so stay tuned in the coming months to keep up with local fishery developments.

HOST: Will do, Tom. NOAA and the Smithsonian Institution hosted the Ocean Biodiversity Summit on January 23. Tell us a bit about what attendees experienced at the Summit. And what’s ocean biodiversity?

DILIBERTO: So, NOAA and the Smithsonian Institution convened the summit to discuss the crucial role that ocean biodiversity plays in human communities and economies. Ocean biodiversity, by the way, refers to levels of diversity between ocean organisms, species, and ecosystems. As human activities continue to place ocean biodiversity at risk, leaders and stakeholders participated in a variety of conversations about sustaining ocean biodiversity, its role in conservation and the blue economy, and how communities can work at the frontlines of climate change. NOAA Chief Scientist Dr. Sarah Kapnick and NOAA Deputy Administrator Jainey Bavishi led a number of these important discussions at the summit. As a whole, NOAA is looking forward to continuing to work alongside partners like the Smithsonian to protect marine ecosystems while prioritizing ocean biodiversity.

HOST: Tom, thanks again for joining us on Planet NOAA to unpack NOAA in the News.

DILIBERTO: Thanks, Symone! I had a whale of a time. Happy to kelp!

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HOST: Each month, we’ll give you a chance to test your trivia knowledge on “Did You NOAA?” with special guest Tara Garwood! Tara is the communications and multimedia lead for the NOAA Heritage Program, where she creates content about NOAA's more than 200-year-old history and artifacts.

TARA GARWOOD: Thanks, Symone! I’m excited to share some cool stories from NOAA’s history with you. And you can always learn more about NOAA’s heritage on our website at noaa.gov/heritage. But expect the unexpected – because these aren’t all your typical weather and ocean stories! This month’s “Did You NOAA” trivia begins in an antique mall in Maine. Local archaeologist Sara Rivers Cofield happens upon a beautiful brown silk bustle dress dating all the way back to the 1880s. Upon taking the dress home, she discovers a secret pocket hidden in the bustle containing scraps of paper. 

HOST: Sara sees that there are lines of seemingly unintelligible text written on the paper. One of them reads: “Bismark, omit, leafage, buck, bank.”

GARWOOD: Mysterious! Sara published photos of the papers on her blog about old costumes and dresses, writing, “I feel like those clues actually DO point to code of some kind. I'm putting it up here in case there's some decoding prodigy out there looking for a project.”

HOST: So how on earth do these scraps of paper and bustle dress land on Planet NOAA? Stick with us through the end of today’s episode to crack the code!

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HOST: This past December, NOAA issued the 18th annual Arctic Report Card. For nearly two decades, the report card has served as a vital source for new and emerging information on the state of the Arctic. The 2023 Arctic Report Card is chock-full of insights on how extreme weather & climate events continue to transform the Arctic – but we’re finding resiliency, opportunity, and hope within diverse partnerships for change that are grounded in scientific observation. Today, we’ll be unpacking the report card with four experts from across the NOAAverse.

HOST: Joining us is Dr. Sandy Lucas, who serves as the Director of the Arctic Research Program within NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Program. It’s great to have you with us! 

DR. SANDY LUCAS: Great, thanks, Symone. Nice to meet you.

HOST: We’re also joined by Alaska Fisheries Science Center Research Biologist Jim Murphy from NOAA Fisheries, who served as co-author for the Arctic Report Card’s chapter on Divergent Responses of Western Alaska Salmon to a Changing Climate.

JIM MURPHY: Thank you, I’m happy to be here.

HOST: Thanks for joining us. Also coming to us from Alaska is National Weather Service climate scientist Brian Brettschneider, who co-authored the Surface Air Temperature section of the Arctic Report Card.

BRIAN BRETTSCHNEIDER: Hi Symone, thank you for having me on.

HOST: Thanks, Brian. And last but not least, we’re joined by Zack Labe, Postdoctoral Research Associate of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Princeton University via NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. Zack served as co-author for the report card’s Sea Surface Temperature overview.

ZACK LABE: Hi everyone, thanks for having me.

HOST: Thank you, Zack. Alright, and to kick it off, Sandy, could you tell us a bit about the 2023 Arctic Report Card? What is it, what does it cover, and who is it for?

DR. LUCAS: Yes, thanks, Symone. The Arctic Report Card is a year-over-year highly visible and authoritative assessment of Arctic change and its impacts on communities and life in the Arctic. This time window allows us to capture year to year variability plus an overall trend in the region. This year the report had 82 authors from 13 different countries. There are three editors that are managing the content process, plus a coordinating editor provided by the Arctic Research Program in GOMO. And overall, the report card is a more timely snapshot of the state of the Arctic climate that can be used as a resource for policy making, and in this case, it particularly emphasizes the Arctic linkages, which is very powerful for the rapid changes that are happening in the Arctic now.

HOST: Thank you, Sandy. The Report Card shares that the Arctic continues to rapidly evolve as a result of human activities that are driving the Earth into uncharted territory. Can you shed some light on how the Arctic Report Card measures this evolution?

DR. LUCAS: The Arctic Report Card is divided into three sections which report out on topics. The first is “Vital Signs,” and these are topics covered every year. So, they are revisited in each report year over year. So, vital signs are things like surface air temperature, precipitation…it also covers the Greenland Ice Sheet, the amount of sea ice, and the sea surface temperature. The second set of sections is called “Indicators.” And these are topics that need a longer analysis time, and they appear every few years. So, they are given updates every few years.  The one in the 2023 Arctic Report Card this year was permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean. And the third is called “Frostbites.” This section, or set of essays, are new discoveries and have emerging stories. It’s a useful tool to have folks from all levels of interest to read the Arctic Report Card and to get the information they need quickly.  

HOST: Thank you, Sandy. That’s really important to me as an educator. I just like to make sure that we are making connections with everyone at all levels, so I appreciate you, Sandy, for giving us that overview. Zack, what have our scientists learned about the sea as they’ve collected data for the Arctic Report Card? 

LABE: I think there are really two key messages or takeaways from our findings in the report card, where we document changes in ocean temperatures. One is that the ocean is warming all across the Arctic, and two is that we have more open waters. And this is related to sort of long-term trends and what we’re seeing is that there’s less and less sea ice over time.

HOST: Thank you, Zack. You talked about how you know the oceans are warming; what is causing sea surface temperatures to warm?

LABE: One key driver of this warming that we’re seeing in the Arctic is related to the atmosphere. So, effectively, we know that human-caused climate change is warming our planet, so you have interactions between the air and the atmosphere that causes the ocean itself to warm. And one other key driver that I want to stress about, you know, our understanding and why we’re seeing these long term trends, is really related to something called the ice-albedo feedback. So what that means is, you know, normally, where you would have the Arctic Ocean covered by this bright white surface, now,it’s, the ice is no longer there, and you’re left with this really dark surface: the ocean. The ocean itself is quite dark. So during the summertime, when you have 24 hours of daylight, all of the sudden, you have this heat coming from the sun, this solar radiation, that’s…instead, it’s no longer bouncing off the white surface, but it’s now being absorbed into the ocean. And that’s causing an increase in the amount of heat in the ocean, which, when you warm the ocean, you also melt more sea ice. So, essentially, it creates this feedback where you have warming waters melting more ice which causes more warming, and that’s one of the key drivers of why we’re seeing such large changes in the Arctic.

HOST: Zack, that was a great visual. I could absolutely see that feedback happening, right? I could visualize it. Do you have any insights on how this might affect the ecosystem?

LABE: I think one of the real clear examples of this is happening in that Bering Sea region. We experience these things called marine heatwaves. So essentially, you know, we think of the heatwave being in the atmosphere like during summer months, but this is a heatwave of the ocean. And what we found is that areas like snow crabs; they are very much sensitive to this increase in temperature. And one of the contributing factors is that it actually caused their habitat to move northward. So, this, you know, normally, where fishermen would go out into waters to find the crab, the crab were no longer there because they had moved northward from these warming ocean temperatures. I like to relate it to a TV show that’s called the Deadliest Catch. So, it’s this…they follow people who go fishing for crabs in the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, and what we found on this show is that due to long-term trends of warming ocean waters, this affected crab, and how many crab were available for the season, which, that then affects what you see at the supermarket; affects the price of crab, the price of seafood in the markets. So I think this is a real clear economic sort of impact that we’re seeing from remote changes at the top of our planet impacting locations all around the world through the economy.

HOST: Thank you, Zack, for that overview. Let’s shift a bit to our ocean’s inhabitants. Salmon lovers – you’ll be excited to learn that there is an entire section of the Arctic Report Card dedicated exclusively to our fishy friends. Jim, can you take us through the report card’s findings on western Alaska salmon?

MURPHY: Thank you, Symone. There’s a couple of highlights that we included in the report card. One of them is that western Alaska salmon abundance has reached historic extremes during these recently warm years from 2021-22. And so, we’ve seen record low abundance levels for both Chinook and chum salmon. But at the same time, we’re seeing record high abundance levels for sockeye, and those are primarily produced in Bristol Bay. So that’s a stark divergent response that we’re seeing in western Alaska salmon. Salmon are also maturing at smaller sizes. For example, Yukon River Chinook salmon – their size, their length – has decreased 6% in adult body length. And probably most importantly, it’s that this decline that we see in salmon populations has contributed to complete fishery closures and these are in rivers in Yukon in particular. And just the closure of all the fisheries and inability for communities and fishermen to harvest, it increased the conflicts between different user groups. And it’s had a profound cultural and food security impacts on the local indigenous communities that have really been tied to salmon for millennia. 

HOST: Jim, so, you said that there are some major differences between different species of salmon; what environmental factors might be causing those differences? 

MURPHY: It has to do with some of the fundamental differences in the life history of these species; so, it’s understanding that not all salmon are equal. So, for sockeye, the key thing is that they spend an entire year rearing in freshwater lakes before they go to sea. And so what we’ve seen is an improved productivity of freshwater lake systems in response to warming climate. So this has kind of accelerated their growth and I think they’re benefitting from warming climate within the freshwater lakes. So conversely, chum salmon, they emerge from the ground; they’ll go right to sea. They don’t have the ability to benefit from increased freshwater productivity. And we think this is tied to poor nutrition and, really, it’s the increase in production and abundance of some of this poor quality prey that chum salmon will feed on. It’s an entirely different story for Chinook salmon. Here, we think some of the critical stages  are tied to their spawning migration as they go upriver. Chinook salmon migrate upriver – upstream – by over a thousand miles. And so we think that there’s a number of concerns with increasing challenges with warmer and rainier climates, so it’s affecting…they’re having heat stress. We’ve also seen the prevalence and intensity of parasitic infections increase with warming climates. So, in the end, kind of our assessment of Chinook is that there are multiple factors that are working, that are interacting with each other that are probably contributing to their decline. 

HOST: Wow, this is so multifaceted. Thank you so much, Jim, for giving us all of that information; we really appreciate it. Let’s swim back to shore for a moment. The Arctic Report Card tells us that extreme weather events have significantly impacted the Arctic region over the last year. Brian, can you break down what that means?

BRETTSCHNEIDER: Sure. Well, as we’ve been talking about, there’s been a dramatic warming over the entire Arctic, and as Zack mentioned, the oceans have warmed, which have reduced the extent and concentration of sea ice. And, what happens over the water doesn’t stay there. It affects what happens over land, and that means warming of the land; it means less snow and a cascading series of impacts that go along with that. And weather kind of sits on top of the climate, so the climate defines the bounds of, kind of, what we expect and that’s shifting toward the warmer tail of distribution right now. But the increase in temperatures really provides energy into the system. And so, when we look at the drivers of extreme precipitation events, extreme storm intensities, the extra energy from the warming world has the effect of sending those really into overdrive. We can get some really unusual high-end events that, in historical times, we really felt were really not attainable. But now we’re seeing those more and more commonly. 

HOST: So, as you talk about that, you know, the Arctic Report Card describes a lot of weather anomalies throughout the 2022/23 water year, including a wet winter over parts of Alaska, a dry summer over northern Canada, and record rains in Scandinavia during August. Can you tell us how water years are measured? And, you kind of already alluded to this, you know, that the increased temperatures are feeding more energy into the system which may be causing these anomalies, but if there’s anything additional that you would like to add, I’d be happy to hear it. 

BRETTSCHNEIDER: So, a water year is measured from the calendar months starting in October, then past the new year through the following September. So it’s a 12 month period. As far as it’s applied to the Arctic, it does actually have some benefit in that we like to kind of separate the liquid precipitation season and the frozen precipitation season. Now as far as the wet winter, as air warms, it has a greater capacity to hold moisture; more of that precipitation is falling as rain, whereas historically, much of it fell as snow. And when we transition precipitation from snow to rain, it has a dramatic effect on the environment, where snow that is sitting on the ground, instead of accumulating more snow, now gets rained on. It melts faster and this is particularly true with glaciers, and increases glacial retreat quite dramatically. So all of these things work together to fundamentally change the precipitation regime in the high Arctic. But at the same time, we are experiencing more intense droughts and worse wildfire conditions. Really the reason for that is when it does rain, it tends to rain – of course, we’re talking in the  summer here – but it tends to rain harder for shorter durations of time. But then when it doesn’t rain, it – because of the warming temperatures – things dry out much faster. And so that can lead to rapid onset drought and increasing vulnerability to wildland fires. And not only increasing vulnerability, but we see an increase in the prevalence, the extent, and the intensity of these fires. So it can be true at the same time that the Arctic is getting wetter, and that the Arctic is burning. 

HOST: Wow, this is fascinating. Thank you so much, Brian. I’d love to hear what you all think the public and decision-makers alike should take away from the Arctic Report Card. Why is it important to collect and publish this type of data from year to year? Sandy, let’s start with you.

DR. LUCAS: So, overall, people should really take away from the Arctic Report Card the importance of this region, both locally and the globe, and how fast these changes are happening. And, I guess, just end on the idea that the Arctic feels really far away, but the impacts of its changes are really being felt here. And they’re being felt here now. 

HOST: Thank you, Sandy. Zack, what would you like to share? 

LABE: I like to think of the Arctic Report Card as a living diary of changes at the top of our planet. One last thing I’d like to highlight is that the data for the Arctic Report Card is all publicly available. I often get a lot of questions where they see these dramatic changes to things like sea ice or air temperatures and ocean temperatures and you can actually go in and explore the data yourself. I think it’s a really great educational tool to see where the data is coming from, and become part of the scientific process as we all try to understand these dramatic changes and what they mean for everyone around the planet. 

HOST: Jim, what are your thoughts? 

MURPHY: This Arctic Report Card is extremely helpful because it kind of provides information on the status of the Arctic in real-time. You need that real-time information on the status of the Arctic to guide decisions. And so, as we take this scientific information and start to translate it into decisions that are made, we need information in real time. And we just need to start to help inform and guide some of these key decisions that are made on resources and communities and science in the Arctic. 

HOST: Thank you, Jim. And Brian?

BRETTSCHNEIDER: What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic. What happens in the far northern part of the globe affects everybody in the rest of the world. It’s very important to have this annual checkup, not only for the people that live there and rely on the resources there and rely on a frozen world which is becoming less frozen, but because of the impacts on farmers, on cities, and on people everywhere. It’s really important to take this temperature measurement and to provide this data to figure out where we’re going every year. 

HOST: Yes, it’s absolutely critical, and I appreciate you all walking us through the Arctic Report Card. You can explore the report card or watch the overview video at arctic.noaa.gov. 

[Did You NOAA transition music plays]

HOST: Let’s swing back to Did You NOAA? for a moment. 10 years have passed since Sara unearthed scraps of paper with mysterious lines of text from within the bustle of an antique dress, and no one has managed to crack the code. The silk dress cryptogram is now considered one of the top 50 unsolvable codes in the world by cryptogram experts.

GARWOOD: But one cryptogram hobbyist found himself on the right track. Researcher Wayne Chan dove down a rabbit hole of telegraphic codebooks that eventually led him to NOAA’s doorstep. Stay tuned through the end of today’s episode to crack the silk dress cryptogram with NOAA’s help!

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HOST: We’re at the start of a new year, which often means new priorities, programs, and opportunities for agencies like NOAA. As we’re looking ahead to what 2024 has in store, let’s pay a visit to the Leadership Corner. It’s my pleasure to introduce Dr. Rick Spinrad! As the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere & NOAA Administrator, Dr. Spinrad is responsible for overseeing NOAA’s portfolio of products and services to address the climate crisis, enhancing environmental sustainability and fostering economic development, and creating a more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive NOAA workforce. In addition to his current role, he’s also been NOAA’s Chief Scientist and led NOAA’s National Ocean Service and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Dr. Spinrad, you can’t seem to stay away from NOAA – what keeps you coming back?

DR. SPINRAD: Yeah, Symone, you’re absolutely right. I mean, in a nutshell, it’s the mission. This is such an amazing agency; everything we do touches every person in this country every day. In your introduction, one of the things I’d love to add is that I’m the first, and thus far the only, NOAA Administrator who was a career guy in the agency as well. So I came in knowing what this agency was capable of, so my passion was part of it. The other thing that kept me coming back was I saw what was happening; I saw the impact of climate change on the world right now, and I felt like, I really can’t sit this one out. So it was about the mission, it was about the urgency of the challenges, and it was about knowing the workforce and the capabilities of the agency that drew me back in. 

HOST: We’re happy to have you. NOAA leaves no stone unturned, from the surface of the sun to the bottom of the ocean. What are your priorities as Administrator for this dynamic agency?

DR. SPINRAD: A lot of people know a piece of NOAA. They may know Fisheries, or they may know us for our satellite service, or they may know us for the work that the NOAA Corps does on our ships or on our airplanes, but the bottom line is that you get the whole package here. As you said, from the surface of the sun to the bottom of the ocean, it’s that combination – that unique combination – of observational and operational responsibilities that we have that’s really aimed at getting what I like to call environmental intelligence into the hands of those that need it. It’s important that we keep as a priority for the agency a number of things, one of which is creating a climate-ready nation. For me, that means really building the products and services that position our nation to prosper and actually benefit from the changes that we know we are going to see. So that’s one of my top priorities. The other is that, as a bureau within the Department of Commerce, we have a responsibility for economic development, but we also have a responsibility for showing how understanding the environment and using science and data can actually help foster burgeoning new economic sectors. So, balancing economic development with environmental stewardship is the second key priority. And the third you alluded to in your introduction. And it’s about making equity part of everything we do. When I talk about equity, I talk about it as a lens; that you can focus equity internally, in terms of, do we have the diversity and the engagement and the opportunities and the access for all to be part of our workforce? And by the same token, are we providing those products and services to those communities that are most in need? So for me, equity is a bit of shorthand to talk about serving all appropriately and fairly and also having a workforce that’s reflective of those whom we serve. 

HOST: Thank you, Dr. Spinrad. Having served in previous administrations, what prompted the need for the Climate Ready Nation Initiative?

DR. SPINRAD: The need is very much driven by the urgency. And all you gotta do is open up a news website, turn on the TV, look at the scientific information. Climate change is real, and it’s happening rapidly. I think that’s probably one of the most important things. 2023, for example, was the hottest year on record. We had record breaking ocean temperatures – marine heatwaves – the headlines talked about hot tub temperatures off Miami. You look at things like the annual Arctic Report Card and the kinds of significant changes we’re seeing for what we might call the air conditioning system of the planet. We put out the 5th National Climate Assessment just a few months ago, which actually quantified the consequences of climate change, including things like sea level rise and more intense fires, extreme events. And speaking of extreme events, we closed out 2023 with a record-breaking 28 billion-dollar climate or weather related disasters. To put that in perspective, that number 30 or 40 years ago was more like 3 or 4 billion dollar disasters. Now, we saw 28. So, you add this all up and you realize, we’ve gotta take some action. And at NOAA, we are the federal authoritative source of climate data and information. But we need to make the information actionable and accessible. I like to say that you can take our data to the bank, and it is critical for decision-makers. So, we are responding to what was very clearly a strong message that we needed to build out this concept of a climate-ready nation. 

HOST: And as you talk about building a Climate Ready Nation, what will make this effort successful?

DR. SPINRAD: Yeah, that’s key, isn’t it? Even though I talk about NOAA having the full portfolio for fundamental research to applications to assessments, we have to, and rightfully should, work with our partners in NASA, in the Department of the Interior, in EPA, at local and state governments as well. And so one of the things that’s really exciting is the Biden-Harris administration has made clear that the whole-of-government commitment is a critical element of how the effort does become successful. NOAA’s footprint is extraordinary. We are in just about every community in the country; two-thirds of our workforce is outside of the DC metro area. We have meaningful relationships with local communities; local decision-makers. And, you know, the last part of that, in terms of making the effort successful, is having the resources. And we have been so fortunate to be the recipients of what are truly historic investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, through the Inflation Reduction Act. We’ve been able to build out meaningful programs around climate-ready coasts; we’ve been able to support communities and industries. And so, it’s really those elements – those program elements, those resource elements, those partnership elements, and those policy elements as well – that are gonna help make this effort successful. 

HOST: Wow, it seems like we have a lot of work to do. After your tenure as Administrator, what are your hopes for the agency and the next generation of leaders?

DR. SPINRAD: I’m reminded of Kathy Sullivan. When she was the Administrator, she said, “We ought to think in terms of bequests. What are we bequeathing to the next generation?” I really like that kind of thinking. So, as I look at it, what is it that we want to leave behind? And one of the most obvious ones is to have institutionalized the capability to deliver the services, the operational services around climate. So if you think about it, one of the stalwart parts of NOAA is our National Weather Service, of course, and we’ve done just that. We have institutionalized operational service delivery of weather products. We need to do the same thing with climate products as well. We need to have the workforce, and so we’re making investments on building a climate-ready workforce. If we set that up in our partnerships with academia and help build the curriculum and the programs and the internships and the opportunities, we will be able to build a workforce that is not only well-trained in how to interpret and apply these products, but also reflects the population of the U.S. in all of its diversity. And one of the things – one of my passions – is really ensuring that we are bringing the youth into the dialogue. Not merely saying, “We’ll have this ready for when you all are in decision-making positions.” So I have instituted a number of activities; I’ve established a position for youth engagement advisor; we’ve built a Young Changemakers Fellowship program where we have 9 brilliant high school students from around the country who are…trying to understand how policy is made. It’s building those capabilities, galvanizing the workforce, engaging the youth who are going to be in jobs like mine in short order. It’s that dedication that has got to be part of the solution and has got to be part of what we embed into the next generation of leaders. So, it’s a little bit of process, it’s a little bit of workforce, it’s a little bit of – if you will – the sort of culture and ethos of the organization as well. 

HOST: Thank you for sharing that, Dr. Spinrad. You know, as an educator and as a recipient of NOAA’s scholarship and internship program and as a participant in a fellowship program before my current role, it makes me feel really great to hear that we are working to be committed to helping young people enter the workforce and see themselves in NOAA and work with us to create a climate-ready nation. 

DR. SPINRAD: You bet. We were all young people at one point. Some of us still are. Some of us are not! But I think what struck me is how well informed, well organized, and dedicated so many young people are about the mission that is really NOAA’s reason for being. 

HOST: Absolutely. If there was one thing you want our listeners to know about NOAA, what would it be?

DR. SPINRAD: Well, that’s a really hard question, Symone, because there isn’t one thing. So I’m gonna take a little bit of liberty and say, I think the most important thing is that I want the listeners to know that our mission touches everybody’s life. And oh, by the way, I love going around to communities, and I’ll ask somebody if they’ve got a nickel in the audience. And 99 times out of 100, somebody will have a nickel, and they’ll say, “Yeah, here.” And they’ll give me the nickel, and I’ll say, “Now, that’s what it costs you. Every day. To get all of the benefits from NOAA. What would you pay a nickel a day for? To get the weather forecast? To get safe seafood on your table? To ensure that all of your flights are safe?” To…on and on and on it goes to make sure that we’re advising building codes for the future. We’ve got NOAA Corps officers that fly into hurricanes. We’ve got Fisheries scientists who work around the clock at sea. We’ve got Nobel Laureate researchers in our laboratories. We’ve got regional coordinators who are on speed dial with mayors and tribal leaders and corporate executives. That’s extraordinary. I guess I’d kind of wrap it up by saying that we are truly a family of dedicated and concerned Americans. 

HOST: Dr. Spinrad, thank you again for taking the time to be here with us today and for your efforts in shaping a climate-ready nation at the helm of NOAA. 

DR. SPINRAD: Thank you, Symone. It’s been my pleasure. 

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HOST: It’s time to return to the silk dress cryptogram! Did You NOAA that researcher Wayne Chan cracked the cryptogram with the help of an 1892 weather telegraph codebook located by NOAA librarians? He deduced that the messages were from an Army Signal Service weather station, with each line denoting weather observations to be telegraphed into the Washington, D.C. Signal Service office.

GARWOOD: By the way, the Signal Service is where the first federal weather bureau started, and it's the predecessor to today's Weather Service. Weather messages at the time started with the station location followed by codewords for temperature, pressure, dew point, precipitation, wind direction & velocity, and cloud & sunset observations. So if we look at the first line, which reads, “Bismark, omit, leafage, buck, bank,” “Bismarck” is code for Bismarck, Dakota Territory, in present-day North Dakota. “Omit” is for an air temperature of 56° Fahrenheit and a barometric pressure of 0.08 in Hg, which refers to inches of mercury. “Leafage” means a dew point of 32° Fahrenheit at an observation time of 10:00 pm. “Buck” is the state of the weather: clear; precipitation: none; and wind direction: north. And “bank” is for a current wind velocity of 12 mph and a clear sunset.

HOST: That’s pretty incredible. Although we still haven’t cracked the code of the original owner of the dress, we do know that the invention of the telegraph advanced weather forecasting around the nation, with codes like these being used to convey important forecasts and warnings.

GARWOOD: And NOAA librarian Katie Poser says that these sorts of requests for special materials aren’t unusual – the NOAA Central Library is a public resource open to everyone. So the next time you run into a seemingly unsolvable code, consider paying a visit to our library in Silver Spring, Maryland, or visiting library.noaa.gov.

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