The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has proposed DOD's first-ever direct contribution next year to the government's interagency global research program, and last month Congress approved a plan to give civilian scientists access to certain DOD data, computer time, and other departmental resources.
The Pentagon's increased involvement could be a boon to the thousands of climatologists, atmospheric and ocean scientists, and computer modelers who monitor and study changes in the earth's climate. Access to data collected by military submarines that patrol beneath the Arctic Circle, for example, could provide information on ice compactness and thickness that is impossible for civilian scientists to obtain on their own. Years of interest in the dynamics of the ocean give the Navy a head start in understanding such important research questions as how energy is transferred between the oceans and the atmosphere, or how sediments build up in the Arctic region.
"Without DOD, the ...
