Scientists warn Trump plan to cut US ocean monitoring will ‘leave world flying blind’
The Trump administration moved to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, proposing to end funding and shut down a major US ocean monitoring network. The OOI supplies continuous marine and climate data that feed weather and climate models, coastal forecasts and scientific research worldwide. Scientists warn axing the program would severely degrade forecasting accuracy, weaken storm and sea-level monitoring, and "leave the world flying blind" for ocean and climate observations.
In the latest play from Project 2025, the Trump Administration has announced plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a $368 million network of more than 900 instruments that continuously monitor the ocean. This is a deliberate destruction of critical scientific infrastructure.
Jacquelyn Gill138The OOI is like a massive network of weather stations, but for the ocean. Sensors collect real-time data on temperature, currents, carbon, storms, habitats, and sea level. Scientists around the world use these data; no individual lab or nonprofit could build or maintain a system of this scale.
DogMaCatMa🫘🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈💙12It’s just absolute trolling at this point. Closing and destroying anything slightly positive
Gneiss Person7On this evening’s PBS NewsHour, William Brangham reported on this story. You could tell his anger about this was barely under the surface. Amna Nawaz, sitting next to him, looked horrified. The NSF statement was a ridiculous word salad. People, call your reps! www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Democracy SOS 🫘💙7The waste and abuse they are committing by cutting science is off the charts. The system should last us until 2041 and they just want to scrap it.
DianneSpiritlight4Horrifying 😳 We need to protect oceans 🌊
Trump is dismantling a $368 million ocean monitoring system that took a decade to build and was designed to run for 25 years. When we need answers about our oceans and our climate, this network is where we get them.
Rep. Mike Levin15More than 900 instruments sitting thousands of feet beneath the Pacific and Atlantic are the reason we can predict coastal flooding, protect our fisheries, and track how a warming ocean is changing our climate.
CaZephyr3Ocean data is more than for climate change Project 2025 hates. It affects commercial fishing, offshore oil fields, and other things Trump does care about.
BornInDaEB 🟦🟧3Trump has wasted trillions of taxpayer money. It will take gargantuan feats to undo it all and he's nowhere near done destroying the U.S. from within.
talentedripley.bsky.social2I can’t comprehend how this is allowed? Trump is harming us catastrophically and no one stops him?
News on Woods Hole and other orgs of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. Not great!
Candace Robb8Long ago I worked at APL/UW and know how valuable these arrays are, and how hard they were to plan and place. This destruction is unforgivable.
Amylee4A collaboration between Woods Hole, university of Washington & Oregon State University. This federal cut will impact years of work that monitors climate change along with the effects of El Niño and marine heat waves. Absolutely stupidly 🤦♀️
