2007: A Space Travesty

The EPA estimates that one-third of Louisiana's coastal wetlands will vanish beneath the Gulf of Mexico by 2050. That's according to this item from NASA's Earth Observatory, where, every day, new Landsat images are used to illustrate the dynamics of our planet. I'm a big fan of the site, because it's one thing to read about things like the subsidence of wetlands and salt water encroachment, and it's another to actually get the big picture, so to speak.

Last week, AP reported that the NASA satellite program that supplies these images is, in the words of one source, "at risk of collapse" due to funding shortfalls. Already some satellite programs aimed at improved monitoring and assessment of global climate change have been cancelled and more are on the chopping block. It's all a question of priorities: According to the article, NASA's "proposed 2007 budget request contains $2.2 billion for satellites that observe the Earth and sun, compared to $6.2 billion for operating the space shuttle and International Space Station and $4 billion for developing future missions to the moon and Mars."