NOAA

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a broad freedom of information request to the federal government demanding more details about layoffs and cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

With the governor's rejection of a new management plan, some rules, including a ban on cruise ships flushing greywater near troubled reefs, won't take effect.

On "The Florida Roundup," Tom Hudson spoke with Florida Public Radio Emergency Network chief meteorologist Tim Miller about the federal government's role in weather forecasting and communicating dangers.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said the plan, which took more than a decade to hammer out, failed to pave the way for artificial reefs in state waters and stripped Florida of managing its own wildlife.

Fired researcher Andy Hazelton grew up in Plant City and Lakeland, and said working for NOAA had been a lifelong goal. While a new federal employee, he’d worked for NOAA for eight years.

They say it's necessary to maintain the nation's hurricane and extreme weather forecasting capabilities.

The Rice's whale is one of the Gulf of Mexico’s largest and most mysterious animals, and is found nowhere else on Earth. NOAA Fisheries is set to publish a new critical habitat designation for the species.

Forecasters tweaked the number of expected named storms from 17 to 25 to 17 to 24. Of those named storms, 8 to 13 are still likely to become hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 75 mph.

This year's zone is over 6,700 square miles. The average over the past five years is about 4,300.

In a report Tuesday, the Florida Keys Wildlife Research Institute said no new sawfish deaths have been reported since June. But exactly what caused the startling behavior remains unknown.

NOAA awarded South Florida scientists up to $16 million to try to breed and replant about 100,000 coral on ailing reefs using survivors of last summer's heat wave. Researchers say climate change is the biggest threat to coral’s survival because it’s simply making water too hot too fast.

They come after NOAA issued an updated forecast that calls for up to 25 named storms, largely due to warmer ocean waters.