NOAA Economics
Did you know…
High resolution (Credit: NOAA)
- The National Weather Service issues more than 15,000 severe storm and tornado watches and warnings each year.
- The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates at least 1/3 of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product is weather and climate sensitive, a potential effect of $4 trillion/yr (in 2005 dollars), after inflation adjustment (Dutton, 2002).
- Last year, United States deep-draft seaports and seaport-related businesses generated approximately 8.4 million American jobs and added nearly $2 trillion to the economy.
- More than 78 percent of U.S. overseas trade by volume and 43.5 percent by value comes and goes by ship, including nine million of barrels of imported oil daily. In total, more than 8,000 foreign vessels make 50,000 port calls annually (Department of Transportation, 2007).
- Domestic aquaculture production (marine and freshwater) could increase by 1 million metric tons annually by 2025, generating 75,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in farm-gate sales (buying directly at the farm), and enhancing regional food supply and security (NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, 2004).
- Aviation receives $580 million/year in economic benefits, as derived from reduced delays in U.S. air transportation, as supported by the Terminal Convective Weather Forecast (Sunderlin and Paull, 2001).
High resolution (Credit: NOAA)
- NOAA's Air Freezing Index provided design and construction guidance to build houses using frost-protected shallow foundations vs. conventional construction practices, which reduces U.S. construction costs by $330 million/year (NOAA, 2001).
- A study by (Centrec, 2003) found that for every $1 that energy companies spend in acquiring NOAA climate station data, they potentially save $495 in related costs (i.e. not having to implement their own observing system).
For more information about NOAA Economics, visit The Economics and Social Benefits of NOAA Data and Products. 