{"id":3720,"date":"2012-07-27T21:18:24","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T11:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/survive2012.com\/news\/?p=3720"},"modified":"2012-07-27T21:18:24","modified_gmt":"2012-07-27T11:18:24","slug":"space-weather-serious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/survive2012.com\/news\/2012\/07\/space-weather-serious-3720.html","title":{"rendered":"US Govt. Says Space Weather is Serious"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSpace weather is a serious matter that can affect human economies around the world,\u201d Tamara Dickinson, a senior policy analyst with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), told attendees at the 2012 Space Weather Enterprise Forum, held 5 June in Washington, D. C.<\/p>\n

…Dickenson said that there has been an increased awareness about space weather in the White House and that President Barack Obama recently has requested briefing memos on the topic<\/strong>. She highlighted several efforts the administration is taking related to space weather, including a forthcoming national Earth observation strategy, which could be released in July and will include an assessment of space weather. She explained that the strategy document will be part of the fiscal year 2014 presidential budget request.<\/p>\n

Dickinson added that the administration also is acting on earlier federal interagency recommendations to ready the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission for launch in 2014 as a near-term risk reduction measure to provide space weather data; there is concern about the continued healthy operation of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), which has gone well beyond its expected mission life.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Obama directed OSTP and the national security staff \u201cto aggressively move forward with space weather mitigation efforts,\u201d Dickinson said. Based on the president\u2019s direction, she restructured OSTP\u2019s Geomagnetic Interagency Working Group. \u201cWe are focusing on achievable, strategic implementation actions, at least initially focused on the [electricity] grid,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a long quote, but the topic is of great importance to Americans. The source is the EOS weekly newspaper<\/a> (June 19 2012), a copy of the article is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here’s a quick overview of what the article tells us:<\/p>\n