Trump admin to dismantle major ocean observation network

The Trump administration is moving to dismantle a major deep-ocean observation system that has provided scientists with critical data on climate change and marine ecosystems for over a decade. The National Science Foundation announced in May that it has initiated a significant scaling back of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a network of more than 900 instruments deployed in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The plan involves removing all underwater infrastructure from four of the initiative’s five active arrays. These are located off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and North Carolina, as well as in the Irminger Sea between Greenland and Iceland. The recovery process, which officials say has already begun at some sites, is expected to take approximately 15 months. The NSF stated the decision aligns with its strategy to adopt a nimbler approach to prioritize evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies.

The $368 million system began full operation in 2016 and was designed to collect continuous, real-time data for at least 25 years. Its instruments have tracked ocean temperatures, carbon absorption, circulation patterns, and marine biodiversity. The data...