NOAA Research News

Congress voted on January 1, 2021 to reauthorize and strengthen the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, a 23-year old program created by Congress to facilitate ocean-related partnerships between federal agencies, academia and industry to advance ocean science research and education.The reauthorization passed Congress as an amendment included in Section 1055 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. 

The National Sea Grant College Act was reauthorized and amended by Congress and signed by President Donald J. Trump on December 18, 2020. The reauthorization, titled the “National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2020,” includes several updates to Sea Grant’s authorizing legislation. The Act serves as a guiding framework upon which Sea Grant operates and serves America’s coastal and Great Lakes communities.

From predicting smoke movement from massive wildfires, to investigating how marine life is responding to a quieter ocean, 2020 was a big year for NOAA science. As this unprecedented year draws to a close, we’re looking back at some of our biggest research endeavors in 2020. Here are 5 of our most-read stories from the last year.

A new book published by the American Geophysical Union provides first detailed examination of how climate change may influence El Niño and La Niña.

Over the past several years, Sea Grant has funded many research projects. Last year, Sea Grant established several collaborative teams focused on bringing together diverse aquaculture stakeholders, advancing specific aspects of the industry, and informing future national investments by Sea Grant. Funding for existing projects is ongoing. This year, Sea Grant provided supplemental funds to each of the state Sea Grant programs to expand work and take on new aquaculture projects at the local level. National investments also included rapid response funds to each Sea Grant state program to address aquaculture needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new, fine-scale modeling approach developed by NOAA and CIRES scientists now projects that there will still be enough high-elevation snow by the middle of the 21st Century to support - according to federal biologists - the denning habits of one iconic North American mountain-dweller, the wolverine.