Thursday, March 01, 2012
Tsunami detection budget slashed
Because we all know that the deficit will balloon out of control if we don't cut $4.6 Million out of the budget for tsunami detection and early warning.
Less than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing almost 16,000 people and causing nuclear accidents, the Obama administration is proposing to cut $4.6 million from tsunami early warning and education programs.But do Americans really need it? After all, the last two tsunamis just affected a bunch of funny speaking brown and yellow people.
The cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2013 budget have been fiercely criticized by scientists who say they harm the agency's ability to keep the public safe. The cuts would affect the operation and maintenance of high-tech buoys that can detect tsunamis. Already about 25 percent of NOAA's early warning stations covering the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are inoperative.
"Reducing support for tsunami warning is like removing the smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector in your house," John Orcutt, a professor of geophysics at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, told the Watchdog. "It's increasing the risk of death and destruction."
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