NOAA timeline: 2000s

Atlantic sea scallops are declared rebuilt following declines in the 1990s.

NOAA Weather Radio adapted for use in national emergencies; expanded to reach 95 percent of the American public the following year.

NOAA hosts the Earth Observation Summit in Washington, DC.

Tsunami readiness in the United States is strengthened after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake strikes in the Indian Ocean, and tsunami waves kill over 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean basin. Congress passes the Tsunami Warning and Education Act, authorizing NOAA to strengthen its tsunami detection, forecast, warning and mitigation programs.

NOAA forecasts Hurricane Katrina and mounts a massive response in the storm's aftermath.

NOAA begins expansion of U.S. tsunami detection and warning capabilities in response to the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

President Bush uses the Antiquities Act to establish the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (originally called the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument), making it the largest single conservation area in the history of the country.

The Magnuson‐Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, which amended the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act, directs the United States to strengthen international fisheries management organizations and to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and bycatch of protected living marine resources.

Congress passes the Marine Debris Act (amended in 2012 and 2018), which formally authorizes NOAA to work on marine debris issues and establishes the Marine Debris Program.

NOAA publishes the first Fisheries Economics of the United States report, detailing the economic impacts of U.S. commercial and recreational fishing activities and fishing-related industries.

NOAA celebrates 200 years of science, service, and stewardship by the agency and its predecessors.

The MSA Reauthorization Act was a game-changer in fisheries management and placed the trajectory of U.S. fisheries on the path to global leadership.

The National Weather Service transitions from county-based to new storm-based warnings, issuing more geographically specific warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, floods, and marine hazards. NWS implements the Enhanced Fujita scale to rate tornadoes, replacing the original Fujita Scale.

NOAA completes the U.S. tsunami detection network after deploying the final two tsunami detection buoys in the South Pacific.

NOAA launches a seafood facts website; FishWatch.noaa.gov.

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, "America's ship for ocean exploration" commissioned.

NOAA establishes the Unmanned Aircraft Systems program within NOAA Research.

The Ship Strike Reduction Rule is implemented to protect North Atlantic right whales and other cetaceans from ship strikes.

Dr. Jane Lubchenco becomes the first woman and the first marine ecologist to lead NOAA.

An unmanned underwater glider successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean, opening up a new world of ocean technology.

NOAA Fisheries begins an initiative to strengthen partnerships with the recreational fishing community.

NOAA establishes the Ocean Acidification Program.

National Severe Storms Laboratory conducted the first phase of the the largest tornado field experiment in history, aiming to answer detailed questions about how, when, and why tornadoes form.