"A new report from the Government Accountability Office elevates the problem of looming gaps in satellite weather data to a 'high risk' concern for the federal government."

"The G.A.O.’s high-risk report, updated every two years to coincide with each new Congress, focuses on federal programs that provide essential public services, often at great cost, but operate with a pronounced ineffectiveness or inefficiency.

Areas like Medicare, military contracting and tax law enforcement have resided on the list continuously since its inception in 1990. The relatively low-profile addition of weather satellites last week underscores growing concerns about short-term and midrange satellite weather observations and forecasts in the United States and across the globe."

Dylan Walsh reports for he New York Times' Green blog ebruary 18, 2013. [2]