Ocean Observatories Initiative, $368m network that has provided crucial climate data, latest victim of Trump cuts

The Trump administration plans to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system that has for more than a decade provided crucial data on ocean systems and climate change.

In a notice, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that it had “initiated descoping of the Ocean Observatories Initiative” (OOI), a vast ocean observation network comprising more than 900 instruments that collect data on ocean health, including current patterns, climate variability and marine biodiversity.

The notice, issued on 21 May, came just days after Trump fired all members of the independent board that oversees the NSF. It outlined plans to remove all in-water infrastructure from observation sites off the coasts of North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, as well as from the Irminger Sea, a marginal sea between Greenland and Iceland.

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[–] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 child)

Yup! The very idea that we can know anything from gathering information is abhorrent to these people.

The only source of authority is "what I say right now". The end.

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Time to build a FOSS version and run our own hardware

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago* (1 child)

    Sure, I'll just grab $368M from my couch cushions.

    Honestly, it would be cheaper and possibly easier to raise an army of protestors to physically stop the dismantling via direct action.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    I'm surprised farmers aren't up in arms about this. This is the exact data that goes into the weather models that they rely on.

    Is it going to rain much this season? Who TF knows! Trump removed all the sensors!

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago*

    You don't get it - since I don't personally understand where that weather information comes from, it is both easy to get and is magic and comes for free from nowhere. It can't be expensive or hard to get because I get it for free on the internet.

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  • 2 comments in c/climate@slrpnk.net view that post
    [–] 4 points 5 months ago

    This hurts my soul

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago

    We already have crappy daily weather reporting. That’s not bad enough? (No, no it’s not.)

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