Sunday, March 26, 2017

Could UW tornado program get hit by Trump budget cuts?

Fascinating story in the Journal Sentinel about a cutting-edge meterological institute on the UW-Madison campus that looks deeply into tornados, like the big El Reno tornado killer 
May 24, 2011 Chickasha, Oklahoma tornado.JPG
in Oklahoma in 2011.
Running computer simulations of many tornadoes will help build a database for  accurately predicting twisters. That would be a much safer alternative to storm chasers' usual tactics: putting themselves in harm's way to set up instruments to measure tornadoes. Two years after the 2011 El Reno tornado, four storm chasers were killed by a twister in the same area.
So I got on the Institute's website, and I see it receives National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funding, works on climate science and partners with a satellite program - - subjects and programs which Team Trump has teed up for cuts:
Trump proposes steep budget cut to leading climate science agency
President Donald Trump's administration is seeking to slash one of the government's premier climate science agencies by 17 percent, delivering steep cuts to research funding and satellite programs, according to a four-page budget memo obtained by The Washington Post... 
The Office of Management and Budget outline for Commerce for fiscal year 2018 proposed sharp reductions in specific areas within NOAA, such as spending on education, grants, and research. NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research would lose $126 million, or 26 percent, of the funds it has under the current budget.
So stay tuned.


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