Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

OKIsItJustMe

(22,286 posts)
16. Dismay as Trump officials to dismantle key ocean monitoring system
Sat Jun 6, 2026, 01:43 AM
Yesterday
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/02/trump-administration-ocean-observatories-initiative
Ocean Observatories Initiative, $368m network that has provided crucial climate data, latest victim of Trump cuts
Maya Yang
Wed 3 Jun 2026 12.36 EDT



Hilary Palevsky, a professor focusing on marine biogeochemistry and oceanography at Boston College, pointed to the significance of the data that will be lost, particularly given the sophisticated engineering required to deploy and maintain the instruments.



She said: “Over the more than 10 years that these things have been deployed, they’ve just gotten better and better at it. And so the data return has also gotten better and better over time … the scientific community was really just getting to the point of being able to capitalize on the data that had been collected so far … I’m really disappointed for the continuation of this important data set.”

Palevsky also warned that rebuilding such a network in the future would be difficult, saying: “If we want to put [the instruments] back out again, we need people who know how to do it and the team that knows how to do it is being dismantled along with the infrastructure program itself.

We’re potentially at risk of having a gap in our ability to regain the expertise to do things that we had sort of just figured out how to pull off.

Recommendations

1 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Questions about Ocean Sensors destruction: [View all] littlemissmartypants Tuesday OP
People need to start ignoring Trmp's orders. Just tell him "Yeah, we did that -- it's finished". eppur_se_muova Tuesday #1
I thought this would happen at the beginning of his term. I'm shocked at the people going along with it, especially the LT Barclay Tuesday #4
Guaranteed, Everyday is a new shocking loss. Zackzzzz Tuesday #2
I guess their goal must be to accelerate human extinction cynical_idealist Tuesday #3
The guys at Marvel comics knew. Watch Avengers Endgame. The wealthy apparently know 2 things: The world's problems LT Barclay Tuesday #5
You know who might be VERY annoyed about this ? THE NAY VEE, and the Intelligence communities. eppur_se_muova Tuesday #6
Excellent point!! I can't imagine that the USCG or the Maritime Industry is too happy either. littlemissmartypants Tuesday #7
I'm not convinced he's going to destroy the instruments, so much as stop monitoring them. I don't know that... NNadir Tuesday #8
The USN has been ordered to pull them out of the water. littlemissmartypants Friday #10
The question is however, will the instruments be damaged or destroyed? NNadir Friday #11
I appreciate your reply. Time will tell. ... littlemissmartypants Friday #12
Dismay as Trump officials to dismantle key ocean monitoring system OKIsItJustMe Yesterday #16
TY ❤️ littlemissmartypants 19 hrs ago #17
Arguing from ignorance is not scientific OKIsItJustMe Friday #13
❤️ littlemissmartypants 19 hrs ago #18
U.S. to Dismantle System Tracking Atlantic Currents That Are at Risk of Collapse OKIsItJustMe Yesterday #14
Announcement on NSF OOI Descoping OKIsItJustMe Yesterday #15
Critical dependence of global ocean heat monitoring on the ocean observing system OKIsItJustMe Friday #9
I guess as a daughter of a career, USCG Captain and lover of the planet, especially the beach... littlemissmartypants 19 hrs ago #19
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Environment & Energy»Questions about Ocean Sen...»Reply #16