1、Blinded:The Decline of U.S.Earth Monitoring Capabilities and Its Consequences for National SecurityJ u l y 2 0 1 1 P o l i c y B r i e fBy christine Parthemore and Will rogersNetworks of satellites,ground-based sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles the assets America uses to monitor and understand en
2、vironmental change and its consequences are going dark.By 2016,only seven of NASAs current 13 earth monitoring satellites are expected to be operational,leaving a crucial information gap that will hinder national security planning.1 Meanwhile,efforts to prevent this capability gap have been plagued
3、by budget cuts,launch failures,technical deficiencies,chronic delays and poor interagency coordination.Without the information that these assets provide,core u.S.foreign policy and national security interests will be at risk.The United States depends on satellite systems for managing the unconventio
4、nal challenges of the 21st century in ways that are rarely acknowledged.This is particularly true for satellites that monitor climate change and other environmental trends,which,in the words of the Department of Defenses(DODs)2010 Quadrennial Defense Review,“will shape the operating environment,role
