Storm Warning: America's Earth Science · Episode 1 of 12 · 45 min
The Forecast and the Fish
Why does a government measure its own air, ocean and land? The story runs through the two free numbers an Alaska fishing family bets a year on, the forecast and the fish count. It starts with Jefferson's 1807 Survey of the Coast and follows the lineage of agencies that became NOAA, the EPA and NCAR.
Who's who
- Thomas Jefferson+10 more episodesPresident who signed the 1807 Survey of the Coast bill
- Ferdinand Rudolph HasslerFirst Superintendent of the Survey of the Coast
- Ulysses S. Grant+8 more episodesPresident who established the national weather service in 1870
- Spencer Fullerton Baird+1 more episodeFirst U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries
- Albert J. MyerArmy Signal Corps chief who organized the first weather network
- Richard Nixon+15 more episodesPresident who proposed the reorganization creating NOAA
Where it happens
- Woods Hole, Massachusetts+1 more episodeSite of the first federal fishery research laboratory
- Boulder, Colorado+3 more episodesHome of the National Center for Atmospheric Research
- Alaska+11 more episodesFishing waters that depend on forecasts and fish counts
Timeline
- February 10, 1807Jefferson signs the act creating the Survey of the Coast
- February 9, 1870Grant signs the resolution founding a national weather service
- 1871Congress creates the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries
- June 1, 1960UCAR incorporated to run NCAR in Boulder
- October 3, 1970Reorganization Plan No. 4 takes effect, creating NOAA
Still debated
The Survey of the Coast is called the oldest scientific agency in the government, though real fieldwork began only years after 1807. Whether Congress was right to remove Hassler in 1818, with his defenders citing accuracy and critics preferring any chart, is also argued.
Connected episodes in other series
How Jefferson and Madison Wrote Religious Freedom Into American LawA Wall of Separation · Episode 2Also features Thomas Jefferson
Why the Sioux Refuse Over a Billion DollarsAs Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 9Also features Ulysses S. Grant
How Copper Sparked the Chilean CoupBackyard Empire: The U.S. in Latin America · Episode 4Also features Richard Nixon
Free and Open: The Law That Gave Away the WestFree and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 1Also features Ulysses S. Grant