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As the affirmative team, Max and I affirm the following: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth's mesosphere. Contention 1: Inherency A. The status quo risks the loss of important environmental data by suspending funding for Earth observation systems; the programs future is at risk Morello '11
Lauren is a scientific reporter at Climate Wire (Scientific American, "Budget Cuts Open Earth Observation Gap", April 14, 2011,http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=budget-cuts-earth-observation-gap&print=true)

The fiscal 2011 budget compromise crafted by the White House and congressional leaders would delay a key federal climate and weather satellite program, making a lengthy That would halt the flow of crucial weather and climate data -handicapping environmental forecasts, severe storm warnings and search-and-rescue operations, Lubchenco warned a Senate Commerce subcommittee. "It's safe to say there will almost certainly be a gap in coverage that, at this point, looks like it may be at least 18 months, based on the fact that the launch date will now slip at least 18
Lubchenco said yesterday. 12- to 14-month delay (ClimateWire, Feb. 15).

gap in critical environmental data a near certainty. Cuts contained in the 2011 budget plan would push back the launch of the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) orbiter by at least 18 months past the current 2016 target, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane

months," she said. That projected gap has grown by at least four months since early February. NOAA officials said then that they expected a

The problem stems from the series of stopgap funding measures that have kept the federal government operating since October. That hand-tomouth existence has taken its toll on JPSS, Lubchenco said, since those temporary spending bills did not include the full $910 million that President Obama sought for the satellite program in 2011. "There is great uncertainty now with respect to what the fiscal future of this program is," she said.
"We're still in the process of doing planning to try to figure out how we can minimize the damage."

Thus the plan: The United States federal government should substantially increase its development of space by increasing the funding and necessary resources to sustain and further development NOAA and NASA Earth Observation Systems. Contention 2: Solvency A. Earth observation systems can be used to gather data needed to solve a multitude of environmental problems Pandor, 06
(07/31/06, Naledi, South African Space Portal, Earth Observations,) South African Minister of Science and Technology

Earth observation satellites are used to monitor the land surface, oceans and atmosphere of our planet, and how all of these change over time. Images of Earth from space are a routine and essential tool in our efforts to manage and protect the Earths resources and environment. Depending on their mission, Earth observation satellites have different orbits.

Weather satellites are placed in high orbits (altitude about 36,000km) above the equator called geostationary orbits, from which they have a constant gaze on the same hemisphere of the Earth. These satellites complete one orbit around the Earth every 24 hours. Other Earth observing satellites are placed in low Earth polar orbits (altitude about 800km) that pass over the poles. These satellites complete one orbit around the Earth every 100 minutes. Because the Earth rotates in the plane of the orbit, such a satellite eventually covers the whole Earth.

Because remote sensing satellites cover the whole globe, they are important for the study of large-scale phenomena like ocean circulation, climate change, desertification and deforestation. They can also be used for a variety of applications such as mapping, urban planning and land use, agriculture, pollution monitoring, coastal monitoring and natural resource management. Satellites pass over the same areas many times over, making it
possible to monitor environmental change caused by human activity and natural processes. Because the data are collected in a consistent manner, satellites can reveal subtle changes that might otherwise remain undetected.

Satellites are also important for monitoring remote or dangerous areas that would otherwise remain unobserved. The

well-known ozone hole over Antarctica and the phenomenon of atmospheric ozone depletion was discovered using satellites. Satellites are often used to provide data rapidly for the monitoring and management of natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods or forest fires, where there may not be enough time to assess damage levels through conventional ground or aerial surveys. Satellites are also used to monitor humanitarian disasters, such as refugee flows from war zones, or for monitoring the spread of water-borne diseases, such as cholera and malaria.

Satellite data allow relief organizations to deliver supplies and humanitarian

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aid rapidly and effectively where they are most needed. Most satellites are capable of being used for a variety of applications during their life times. All satellite data are archived, providing a valuable data bank for future, unanticipated applications, long after the satellite has ceased to operate. This provides a valuable return on the cost of building and launching the satellite. In South Africa, the CSIR
Satellite Applications Centre maintains an archive of images taken by a variety of satellites dating back to 1972. This archive is a national resource.

B. Advances in remote-satellite technologies are key to effective policy making. Allgood et al., 2009

[Greg Allgood, director of the Childrens Safe Drinking Water Program at Procter & Gamble, where he is senior fellow in sustainability. He has a Ph.D. in toxicology from North Carolina State University and a master of science in public health from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he did research in the water area. He serves on the advisory boards of the Global Health Working Group of the Clinton Global Initiative and Aquaya Institute, Jason Clay, Juan Jose Consejo, Qiuqiong Huang, Mei Xurong, Susan E. Murcott, Peter G. McCornick, Chista D. Peters-Lidard, R. Maria Saleth, Olcay Unver, Adrien Couton, Ger Bergkamp, Shaden Adbel-Gawad, Water and Agriculture Implications for Development and Growth, 11-10]

Advances in satellite remote-sensing technologies have enabled monitoring and measurement of Earths land surface with unprecedented detail and frequency. Such observations provide a huge volume of valuable data in nearreal time about conditions on the Earths surface, including land cover type, vegetation type and health, precipitation, snow, soil moisture, water levels, and radiation. Observations of this sort combined with models and analysis enable satellite-based assessment of water resources and agricultural productivity. Such assessments can subsequently provide policymakers with the time-critical information they need to make more informed decisions on humanitarian and other issues, including early warnings of famine, disaster management, and food security. Advantage 1 is Ocean Biodiversity A. Ocean ecosystems are collapsing now EOS systems are key to international cooperation on addressing the issue Sherman, 11

(Kenneth, 2011, The application of satellite remote sensing for assessing productivity in relation to fisheries yields of the worlds large marine ecosystems, ICES Journal of Marine Science, US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Ph.D, Director of U.S. LME Program, Director of the Narragansett Laboratory and Office of Marine Ecosystem Studies at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island)

world leaders at the historical UN Conference on Environment and Development recognized that the exploitation of resources in coastal oceans was becoming increasingly unsustainable, resulting in an international effort to assess, recover, and manage goods and services of large marine ecosystems (LMEs). More than $3 billion in support to
In 1992, (UNCED) 110 economically developing nations have been dedicated to operationalizing a five-module approach supporting LME assessment and management practices.

change on

fisheries biomass yields of and in situ sampling of key indicators of changing ecological conditions. Warming appears to be reducing primary productivity in the lower latitudes, where stratification of the water column has intensified. Fishery biomass yields in the Subpolar LMEs of the Northeast Atlantic are also increasing as zooplankton levels increase with warming.

An important component of this effort focuses on the effects of climate LMEs, using satellite remote sensing

During the current period of climate warming, it is especially important for space agency programs in Asia, Europe, and the United States to continue to provide satellite-borne radiometry data to the global networks of LME assessment scientists. Overfishing, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change are causing serious degradation in the worlds coastal oceans and a downward spiral in economic benefits from marine goods and services. Prompt and large-scale changes in the use of ocean resources are needed to overcome this downward spiral. In 1992, the world community of nations convened the first global
conference of world leaders in Rio de Janeiro to address ways and means to improve the degraded condition of the global environment (Robinson et al., 1992). Ten years later (2002), at a follow-up World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (Sherman, 2006), world leaders agreed to a Plan of Implementation for several marine-related targets including achievement of: (i) substantial reductions in land-based sources of pollution by 2006; (ii) introduction of the ecosystems approach to marine resource assessment and management by 2010; (iii) designation of a network of marine protected areas by 2012; and (iv) maintenance and restoration of fish stocks to maximum sustainable yield levels by 2015. More recently, in Copenhagen in 2009, world leaders agreed to non-binding actions to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to mitigate the effects of global climate change. For the period 20102020, the international community of maritime nations is pursuing solutions for recovering depleted marine fish stocks, restoring degraded habitats, controlling pollution, nutrient overenrichment, and ocean acidification, conserving biodiversity, and adapting to climate change. This effort at improving the ecological condition of the worlds 64 large marine ecosystems (LMEs) is global in scope and ecosystems-orientated in approach (Sherman et al., 2005). LMEs are regions of 200 000 km2 or more, encompassing coastal areas from estuaries to the continental slope and the seaward extent of well-defined current systems along coasts lacking continental shelves (Figure 1). They are defined by ecological criteria including bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and trophically linked populations (Sherman, 1994). The LMEs produce 80% of the worlds marine fisheries yields annually and are growing sinks of coastal pollution and nutrient overenrichment. They also harbour degraded habitats (e.g. corals, seagrasses, mangroves, and oxygen-depleted dead zones). The Global Environment Facility (GEF), a financial group located in Washington, DC, supports developing countries committed to the recovery and sustainability of coastal ocean areas, by providing financial and catalytic support to projects that use LMEs as the geographic focus for ecosystem-based strategies to reduce coastal pollution, control nutrient overenrichment, restore damaged habitats, recover depleted fisheries, protect biodiversity, and adapt to climate change (Duda and Sherman, 2002).

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B. EOS technology is key to producing unique data and observations regarding needed to properly assess ocean ecosystems Robinson, 10

(Ian, 2010, Discovering the Ocean from Space [electronic resource] The unique applications of satellite oceanography / by Ian S. Robinson., BA and MA Mechanical Sciences, Cambridge University, PhD Engineering Magneto-hydrodynamics, University of Warwick, 1973, Higher and Senior Scientific Officer, Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Bidston, Lecturer, senior lecturer and reader, University of Southampton Department of Oceanography, Head of Department of Oceanography, Professor, University of Southampton School of Ocean and Earth Science, Professorial Fellow, Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, JPL)

In questions of how the Earth operates physically, chemically, and biologically as an integrated system, the role of the ocean is not fully grasped. Within the hydrosphere it is recognized that the ocean tends to have a stabilizing effect on physical climate, due to its much longer time constant for change than that of the atmosphere. Yet the large-scale and long-term processes in the ocean, which determine its role in climate change, are not properly known or understood, and neither is the relationship between processes occurring at different length and time scales. Because the ocean is a fluid it is constantly changing across a wide spectrum of scales. These span from centimeters and seconds for small surface
waves to thousands of kilometers and several decades for the exchange of water in ocean basins between the surface layer and the

Interactions between biological, chemical, and physical processes in the ocean can occur at all scales in between these extremes. It is the unique capacity of satellite remote-sensing systems to sample snapshots of the detailed spatial distribution of ocean variables over hundreds to thousands of kilometers, repeating those measurements regularly for decades, which gives them a key role in measuring and then understanding ocean variability. This book will show a variety of ways in which satellite
abyss. data have begun to open up new opportunities for scientific study of the ocean, and point to the long-term scientific role which the methods of satellite oceanography should occupy in the future.

C. The continuing collapse of ocean ecosystems leads to widespread extinction Rogers and Laffoley, 11

6/20/11 Alex David, Ph.D. in marine invertebrate systematics and geneticsfrom the University of Liverpool is a Professor in Conservation Biology at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford and Dan, PhD on marine ecology at the University of Exeter, and Senior Advisor, Marine Science and Conservation Global Marine and Polar Programme (IPSO Oxford, International earth system expert workshop on ocean stresses and impacts, July 20, 2011, http://www.stateoftheocean.org/pdfs/1906_IPSO-LONG.pdf) The workshop enabled leading experts to take a global view on how all the different effects we are having on the ocean are compromising its ability to support us. This examination of synergistic threats leads to the conclusion that we have underestimated the overall risks and that the

marine degradation is greater than the sum of its parts, and that degradation is now happening at a faster rate than predicted. It is clear that the traditional economic and consumer values that formerly served society well, when coupled with current rates of population increase, are not sustainable. The ocean is the largest ecosystem on Earth, supports us and maintains our world in a habitable condition. To maintain the goods and services it has provided to humankind for millennia demands change in how we view, manage, govern and use marine ecosystems. The scale of the stresses on the ocean
whole of means that deferring action will increase costs in the future leading to even greater losses of benefits. The key points needed to drive a common sense rethink are:

Human actions have resulted in warming and acidification of the oceans and are now causing increased hypoxia. Studies of the Earths past indicate that these are three symptoms that indicate disturbances of the carbon cycle associated with each of the previous five mass extinctions on Earth (e.g. Erwin, 2008; Veron, 2008a,b; Veron et al., 2009; Barnosky et al., 2011).
The speeds of many negative changes to the ocean are near to or are tracking the worst-case scenarios from IPCC and other predictions. Some are as predicted, but many are faster than anticipated, and many are still accelerating. Consequences of current rates of change already matching those predicted under the worst case scenario include: the rate of decrease in Arctic Sea Ice (Stroeve et al., 2007; Wang & Overland, 2009) and in the accelerated melting of both the Greenland icesheet (Velicogna, 2009; Khan et al., 2010; Rignot et al., 2011) and Antarctic ice sheets (Chen et al., 2009; Rignot et al., 2008, 2011; Velicogna, 2009); sea level rise (Rahmstorf 2007a,b; Rahmstorf et al., 2007; Nicholls et al., 2011); and release of trapped methane from the seabed (Westbrook et al., 2009; Shakova et al., 2010; although not yet globally

The worst case effects are compounding other changes more consistent with predictions including: changes in the distribution and abundance of marine species (Beaugrand & Reid, 2003; Beaugrand 2004, 2009; Beaugrand et al., 2003; 201sate0; Cheung et al. 2009, 2010, Reid et al., 2007; Johnson et
significant Dlugokencky et al., 2009). al., 2011; Philippart et al., 2011; Schiel, 2011; Wassmann et al., 2011; Wernberg et al., 2011); changes in primary production (Behrenfeld et al., 2006; Chavez et al., 2011); changes in the distribution of harmful algal blooms (Heisler et al., 2008; Bauman et al., 2010); increases in health hazards in the oceans (e.g. ciguatera, pathogens; Van

mpacts on marine ecosystems, including direct impacts on predator and prey species, the simplification and destabilization of food webs, reduction of resilience to the effects of climate change (e.g. Jackson et al. 2001; Pauly et al., 1998; Worm & Myers, 2003; Baum & Myers, 2004; Rosenberg et al., 2005; Worm et al., 2006; Myers et al., 2007;
Dolah, 2000; Lipp et al., 2002; Dickey & Plakas, 2009); and loss of both large, longklived and small fish species causing widespread i Jackson, 2008; Baum & Worm, 2009; Ferretti et al., 2010; Hutchings et al., 2010; WardkPaige et al., 2010; Pinskya et al., 2011). The magnitude of the cumulative impacts on the ocean is greater than previously understood Interactions between different impacts can be negatively synergistic (negative impact greater than sum of individual stressors) or they can be antagonistic (lowering the effects of individual impacts). Examples of such interactions include: combinations of overfishing, physical disturbance, climate change effects, nutrient runoff and introductions of nonknative species leading to explosions of these invasive species, including harmful algal blooms, and dead zones (Rabalais et al., 2001, 2002; Daskalov et al., 2007; Purcell et al., 2007; Boero et al., 2008; Heisler et al., 2008; Dickey & Plakas, 2009; Bauman et al., 2010; VaquerkSunur & Duarte, 2010); increased temperature and acidification increasing the susceptibility of corals to bleaching (Anthony et al., 2008) and acting synergistically to impact the reproduction and development of other marine invertebrates (Parker et al., 2009); changes in the behavior, fate and toxicity of heavy metals with acidification (Millero et al., 2009; Pascal et al., 2010); acidification may reduce the limiting effect of iron availability on primary production in some parts of the ocean (Shi et al., 2010; King et al., 2011); increased uptake of plastics by fauna (Andrady 2011, Hirai & Takada et al. 2011, Murray & Cowie, 2011), and increased bioavailability of pollutants through adsorption onto the surface of microplastic particles (Graham & Thompson 2009, Moore 2008, Thomson, et al., 2009); and feedbacks of climate change

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impacts on the oceans (temperature rise, sea level rise, loss of ice cover, acidification, increased storm intensity, methane release) on their rate of CO2 uptake and global warming (Lenton et al., 2008; Reid et al 2009). Timelines for action are shrinking. The longer the delay in reducing emissions the higher the annual reduction rate will have to be and the greater the financial cost. Delays will mean increased environmental damage with greater socioeconomic impacts and costs of mitigation and adaptation measures. Resilience of the ocean to climate change impacts is severely compromised by the other stressors from human activities, including fisheries, pollution and habitat destruction. Examples include the overfishing of reef grazers, nutrient runoff, and other forms of pollution (presence of pathogens or endocrine disrupting chemicals (Porte et al., 2006; OSPAR 2010)) reducing the recovery ability of reefs from temperaturekinduced mass coral bleaching (Hoeghk Guldberg et al., 2007; Mumby et al., 2007; Hughes et al., 2010; Jackson, 2010; Mumby & Harborne, 2010) . These multiple stressors promote the phase shift of reef ecosystems from being coralkdominated to algal dominated. The loss of genetic diversity from overfishing reduces ability to adapt to stressors. Ecosystem collapse is occurring as a result of both current and emerging stressors. Stressors include chemical pollutants, agriculture runkoff, sediment loads and overkextraction of many components of food webs which singly and together severely impair the functioning of ecosystems. Consequences include the potential increase of harmful algal blooms in recent decades (Van Dolah, 2000; Landsberg, 2002; Heisler et al., 2008; Dickey & Plakas, 2009; Wang & Wu, 2009); the spread of oxygen depleted or dead zones (Rabalais et al., 2002; Diaz & Rosenberg, 2008; VaquerkSunyer & Duarte, 2008); the disturbance of the structure and functioning of marine food webs, to the benefit of planktonic organisms of low nutritional value, such as jellyfish or other gelatinousklike organisms (Broduer et al., 1999; Mills, 2001; Pauly et al. 2009; Boero et al., 2008; Moore et al., 2008); dramatic changes in the microbial communities with negative impacts at the ecosystem scale (Dinsdale et al., 2008; Jackson, 2010); and the impact of emerging chemical

The extinction threat to marine species is rapidly increasing. The main causes of extinctions of marine species to date are overexploitation and habitat loss (Dulvy et al., 2009). However climate change is increasingly adding to this, as evidenced by the recent IUCN Red List Assessment of reforming corals
contaminants in ecosystems (la Farr et al., 2008). This impairment damages or eliminates the ability of ecosystems to support humans. (Carpenter et al., 2008). Some other species ranges have already extended or shifted polekwards and into deeper cooler waters (Reid et al., 2009); this may not be possible for some species to achieve, potentially leading to reduced habitats and more extinctions. Shifts in currents and temperatures will affect the food supply of

not only are we already experiencing severe declines in many species to the point of commercial extinction in some cases, and an unparalleled rate of regional extinctions of habitat types (eg mangroves and seagrass meadows), but we now face losing marine species and entire marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, within a single generation. Unless action is taken now, the consequences of our activities are at a high risk of causing, through the combined effects of climate change, overexploitation, pollution and habitat loss, the next globally significant extinction event in the ocean. It is notable that the occurrence of multiple high intensity stressors has been a prerequisite for all the five global extinction events of the past 600 million years (Barnosky et al., 2009). Advantage 2 is Ug99
animals, including at critical early stages, potentially testing their ability to survive. The participants concluded that

A. Ug99 is impacting wheat crop yields in North Africa and Central Asia now The LA Times, 09 Crop scientists fear the Ug99 fungus could wipe out more than 80% of worldwide wheat crops as it spreads from eastern Africa. It has already jumped the Red Sea and traveled as far as Iran. Experts say it is poised to enter the breadbasket of northern India and Pakistan, and the wind will inevitably carry it to Russia, China and even North America -- if it doesn't hitch a ride with people first. "It's a time bomb," said Jim Peterson, a professor of wheat breeding and genetics at Oregon State University in Corvallis. "It moves in the air, it can move in clothing on an airplane. We know it's going to be here. It's a matter of how long it's going to take. "Though most Americans have never heard of it, Ug99 -- a type of fungus called stem rust because it produces reddish-brown flakes on plant stalks -- is the No. 1 threat to the world's most widely grown crop. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, estimates that 19% of the world's wheat, which provides food for 1 billion people in Asia and Africa, is in imminent danger. American plant breeders say $10 billion worth of wheat would be
Fear that the fungus will cause widespread damage has caused short-term price spikes on world wheat markets. Famine has been averted thus far, but
destroyed if the fungus suddenly made its way to U.S. fields.

Kaplan, Karen. "Ug99 Wheat Rust | A 'time Bomb' for World Wheat Crop - Los Angeles Times." The Los Angeles Times. LA Times, 14 June 2009. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/14/science/sci-wheat-rust14>.

experts say it's only a matter of time. "A significant humanitarian crisis is inevitable,"
The solution is to develop new wheat varieties that are immune to Ug99. That's much easier said than done.
said Rick Ward, the coordinator of the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

B. EOS technology produces unique data crucial to understanding wheat yields Budde et al., 10

(Michael Budde, James Rowland, and Chris Funk, US Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center, Sioux Falls, SD. ASRC Research & Technology Solutions (ARTS), contractor to the US Geological Survey EROS Center. Work performed under USGS contract 08HQCN0007, Sioux Falls, SD, Agriculture and Food Availability Remote Sensing of Agriculture for Food Security Monitoring in the Developing World, February 8th, http://www.earthzine.org/2010/02/08/agriculture-and-food-availabilityremote-sensing-of-agriculture-for-foodsecurity-monitoring-in-the-developing-world/)

In Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, years of political upheaval and intermittent drought have contributed to the prospects of widespread hunger. Remotely sensed satellite observations were able to provide non-political, objective and timely production estimates. In both cases, we were able to use historically

In Zimbabwe, during February of 2009, an estimated 7 million people faced serious

food shortages, many surviving on just one meal per day. Zimbabwes once-thriving agricultural production had fallen significantly and changes in the agricultural system made it difficult to get good estimates of crop production. In Afghanistan, the 2008 spring snow pack appeared to be well below normal. This could mean a reduced wheat harvest due to inadequate water for irrigation, but crop production reports would not be available until many months later. In the meantime, many people could endure serious hardship. Clear and early answers were needed by organizations poised to send famine-mitigating food aid.

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observed relationships between NDVI and crop production/yield to develop MODIS-based crop production/yield estimates, well before conventional statistics were available. In Afghanistan, this meant that anecdotal reports of widespread crop failure could be substantiated. In Zimbabwe, remote sensing showed improved crop production over the previous year, with the number of food insecure people likely falling to a relatively low number, compared to recent history. In both cases, strategic decisions for food aid programs could be made in a timely fashion, helping to keep costs down and increase their effectiveness in staving off widespread hunger. C. The absence of wheat production leads to regional poverty Cornell University, 08
(Stem Rust: Historical Perspective, Cornell University Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat Project, http://wheatrust.cornell.edu/about/backgroundandrationale.cfm)

Wheat represents approximately 30% of the worlds production of grain crops.

energy requirements of most adults.

The FAO predicts that 598 million tons of wheat will be harvested this year on 220 million hectares of land. Nearly half of that production will be harvested in developing countries. On average, each person in the world consumes 68.2 kilograms of wheat each year. That equates to about 630 calories per day per person, or 1/2 to 1/3 of the minimal

In West Asia, North Africa, and Central Asia, wheat provides more calories than all other grains combined. The Middle East and North African countries consume over 150% of their own wheat production and are thus heavily dependent on imports. Once Ug99 and its derivatives have established themselves in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, annual losses could reach US$ 3 billion in any given year. The effects on rural livelihoods and geopolitical stability would be incalculable. Large populations of poor wheat-growing farming families would be seriously affected and few would have alternative livelihoods. The impact on landless laborers dependent on agricultural jobs would also be severe, and one could anticipate an increase in the rural-urban migration of landless laborers and small farmers. Moreover, such large production losses would have significant implications for rural and national economic growth rates in seriously affected countries and could even affect global wheat markets. **I NEED MORE IDEAS FOR THIS ADVANTAGE I DONT HAVE TIME TO READ TALIBAN **