The Trump Administration Is Dismantling a $368 Million Ocean Monitoring System Essential for Tracking Global Climate

When it comes to monitoring the progression of climate change, we often look to the ocean for our data. That's because rising tides, increased water temperatures, and even changing currents can all point to an underlying condition, which can spell disaster for global climates.

For the past decade, the U.S. has cooperated with international experts, using data collected by 900 deep-sea instruments to understand how the ocean is reacting to the world's greenhouse gases.

Starting in June 2026, the Trump administration will begin dismantling those ocean monitoring systems, removing the anchored instruments from the coast of several states, including Oregon and North Carolina, as well as international destinations like the Irminger Sea.

Meanwhile, experts say that this is a dangerous move, which could cause delays in addressing and reacting to global climate change. Not only that, but it will be hard to relaunch once the Trump administration is no longer in power.

The New York Times is reporting that the Trump administration is axing the $368 million system starting in June. The National Science Foundation will begin pulling the instruments — which are anchored off the coast of Washington State, Alaska, Oregon, North Carolina, and Irminger Sea — dismantling the decade-old program that was used to identify how the ocean absorbs greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, and the effect it has on things like coastal flooding, climate, fisheries, and more.

The process will take a long time, as some of these instruments (like the one in the Irminger Sea) are secured to the bottom of the ocean, some 9,200 feet below the sea's surface.

It's expected to take around 15 months to remove all 900 of the instruments, and the New York Times reports that the one that is used to monitor Oregon's active underwater volcano will remain in operation until sometime in 2028. However, it's worth noting that weather and ocean conditions could change that timeline.

A spokesperson for the National Science Foundation reportedly said that the decision to do away with the Ocean Observatories Initiative, "aligns with N.S.F.’s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure."

However, at least one former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official disagrees.

Craig McLean, who served under Trump's first term, said that the decision to dismantle this program was part of an ongoing pattern with the administration.

"This reflects the further lack of understanding that the current administration has of scientific value and scientific merit," McLean said. "By dismantling such a system, we push the United States back yet again into a rear seat in global scientific leadership."

There doesn't appear to be any word on whether any of the other countries that worked with the U.S. to collect and analyze this data plan to take up the research.