U.S. to dismantle ocean monitoring system that tracks Atlantic currents

The shutdown

The administration of President Donald Trump is moving to dismantle an ocean observation system of more than 900 instruments in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Just days after Trump fired the independent board overseeing the National Science Foundation, the NSF announced the “removal of all in-water infrastructure” belonging to the Ocean Observatories Initiative at sites along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, Alaska and North Carolina, and in the waters between Greenland and Iceland. Officials say the instruments will be recovered over the next 15 months.

The network began operating in 2016 and was designed to run for at least 25 years. After a decade in service, its removal will leave scientists without critical data on the state of the oceans and on marine life.

Why the AMOC data matters

Among the measurements at risk is information on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC — a system of ocean currents that delivers warmth to northern Europe and shapes the climate globally. Scientists are increasingly concerned that the AMOC may be nearing a “tipping point,” after which it shuts down.

Helen Findlay of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the U.K. said that without sustained ocean observations “we are effectively choosing to navigate an increasingly volatile ocean with diminishing visibility.” Growing uncertainty about the future of the AMOC, she said, “is precisely why long-term, consistent monitoring is more vital than ever.”

Political reaction

Democrats in Congress have said they will “fight” the plans to dismantle the system, The New York Times reported. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the more outspoken members of Congress on climate change, wrote on X: “Fossil fuel is heating our oceans by the zettajoule, so Trump's corrupt fossil fuel stooges want to turn off the monitors.”