The National Science Foundation on Thursday reversed its decision to dismantle its sprawling ocean monitoring network. fierce opposition Hearing from Democratic lawmakers and scientists who rely on this data to track everything from ocean circulation to extreme weather events.
NSF issued a statement “We appreciate the concerns raised by a wide range of stakeholders,” he said, adding that efforts to remove or neutralize the equipment will be halted. It also said it would redeploy equipment already removed from the sea and convene a committee of experts to decide on the future of the network.
Ocean Observatory Initiative is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386 million. Over the past decade, ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, climate change and abnormal weatherproduces freely available data to the public and provides information to over 500 scientific publications. The project was expected to take another 15 to 20 years.
National Science Foundation It directed that most of the system’s equipment be removed from waters off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina, and Greenland by 2027. The decision was made without any warning or scientific review, the scientists said.
The independent federal agency created by Congress described the move not as a cancellation but as a “review” in line with a strategy that prioritizes “evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies.” The Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal included a 55% cut to the agency.
In this 2021 image provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, workers walk near a buoy used for data collection on the Pioneer New England Shelf off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts (Véronique LaCapra/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, via AP)
In this 2021 image provided by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, workers walk near a buoy used for data collection on the Pioneer New England Shelf off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts (Véronique LaCapra/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, via AP)
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On Monday, a group of Democratic senators and one Republican lawmaker, as well as two Democratic House committees, sent a letter to NSF urging it to change course. House members accused the agency of misconduct.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon said in a statement Thursday: “Dismantling OOI was the ultimate in foolishness. We will continue to fight to ensure that scientists, fishermen, and coastal communities can continue to take advantage of the important data it provides.”
The cuts to ocean observatories appear to be part of a broader retreat from environmental and climate-related science under the Republican administration, which is moving to scale back research programs, cut staff at agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, and ease emissions regulations.
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