Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency in charge of weather research and forecasting, said the creation of a new National Climate Service within his agency could combine data from the research and analysis work done by several agencies, as well as coordinate climate information for the government. "In the future I think it would make a lot of sense for us to separate the science from the political furball of policy," he said.