U.S. to abolish system that tracks the Atlantik Seaflow at risk of collapse

The Trump administration is preparing to dismantle an ocean observation system made up of more than 900 instruments in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Data from the system has been used to study major Atlantic currents that appear increasingly at risk of collapse as the climate warms.

Just days after President Trump fired the independent board overseeing the National Science Foundation, the NSF announced the “removal of all aquatic infrastructure” belonging to the Ocean Observatories Initiative at sites along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, Alaska and North Carolina, as well as in the waters between Greenland and Iceland. Officials say the instruments will be collected over the next 15 months.

The system, which began operating in 2016, was designed to operate for at least 25 years. After just a decade of operation, the loss of monitoring instruments will leave scientists without critical data on the state of the oceans and marine life. This includes data on the Atlantic Southern Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, a system of ocean currents that brings heat to northern Europe and shapes climate globally. Scientists are increasingly concerned that AMOC is approaching a “tipping point,” after which it will grind to a halt.

Without sustained ocean observations, "we are effectively choosing to navigate an increasingly volatile ocean with decreasing visibility," said Helen Findlay, of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The growing uncertainty around the future of AMOC, she said, “is precisely why consistent, long-term monitoring is more vital than ever.”

Democrats in Congress have said they will “fight” plans to dismantle the system, the New York Times reports. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, one of the most vocal members of Congress on the subject of climate change, said on »