Photo courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Knowing where to look is absolutely key, because much of NOAA’s most fascinating information lies hidden under less-than-obvious links and subdirectories. I’ve even made mental notes about certain sections I found really interesting, only to have a heck of a time finding those sections again later. So to make it easier to explore the wealth of information NOAA provides, I thought I’d offer a virtual tour of some of the web site’s highlights.

Whether you’re looking for news about the air quality in Phoenix today, the chance of a tsunami in Alaska or the chance for severe storms in Tulsa, this is the section to start with. The All-Hazard Monitor provides background information and news about everything from coral bleaching, droughts, earthquakes, flooding, oil spills and rip currents to national weather hazards and warnings, volcanic ash advisories, Pacific tsunami warnings and fire weather forecasts.

Climate

Starting from this section, you can search 108 years of weather data for the U.S.; check monthly and seasonal outlooks for temperature, precipitation and el Nino/la Nina events; find a slew of information on global climate change; and track real-time news about sea-surface temperatures and winds through the Tropical Atmosphere Ocean Project. There’s also an online Carbon Tracker that provides ongoing updates of carbon dioxide release and absorption over North America.

Fisheries

NOAA’s Fisheries Service features everything from the latest prices for Boston lobster and conservation news about marine turtles to shark attack information, a fish FAQ and audio files of whale songs (look about three-quarters of the way down the left-hand navigation bar to find links).

National Marine Sanctuaries

The U.S. has 13 protected marine areas dubbed national sanctuaries and another protected area called the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument. Starting from this section, you can find direct links to the websites for each one of them: the Great Lakes’ Thunder Bay, Stellwagen Bank at Masschusetts Bay, the Monitor, Gray’s Reef off of Georgia, the Florida Keys, the Flower Garden Banks off the Texas and Louisiana coasts, Fagatele Bay in American Samoa, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale sanctuary, Papahānaumokuākea (that’s gotta be Hawaiian, right?), the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, Gulf of the Farallones, Cordell Bank and Olympic Coast.

You’ll also find news about marine sanctuary expeditions, a library of educational materials and a guide to "ocean etiquette."

NOAA Fun for Kids

This section for kids, teachers and parents features downloadable desktop wallpaper; an ocean challenge puzzle; downloadable "Discovery Kits" with tutorials, data and lesson plans about corals, currents, geodesy, non-point source pollution, tides and water levels: and information about subjects like coral reef conservation.

Again, it’s easy to get lost in myriad pages, sections and subsections of NOAA’s Website, but it’s a site definitely worth exploring. Whatever your interest in nature and natural phenomena, you’ll likely be overwhelmed at the quantity of information you can find here.