White House dismantles ocean system that monitors climate change

This article appeared as part of the Daily Sensemaker newsletter – one story a day to make sense of the world. To receive it in your inbox, featuring content exclusive to the newsletter, sign up for free here.

The Trump administration is planning to take apart a $368m ocean monitoring system designed to help scientists understand coastal flooding, marine ecosystems and powerful currents. The network of 900 instruments, anchored in the Atlantic and the Pacific, has been in use for a decade and is crucial for tracking climate change. One station between Greenland and Iceland is particularly important in monitoring the state of the Atlantic meridional overturning current, the collapse of which would precipitate frigid winters and summer droughts in western Europe. A spokesperson for the National Science Foundation said the move was part of a wider strategy to prioritise support for “evolving scientific priorities”. Climate experts see it as another act of recklessness by the White House. The network only costs $48m a year to operate.