tech
A Super El Niño Threatens Disaster. Trump is Handling it Recklessly
The administration interrupted data streams that are key to forecasting. These systems should not be vulnerable to political whims
TL;DR
- A strong El Niño is expected to form, potentially causing severe droughts, wildfires, flooding, and active hurricane seasons.
- Historical El Niño events have been linked to widespread famine and death due to lack of data and forecasting.
- The Trump administration's National Science Foundation initiated the dismantling of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a network of over 900 ocean sensors.
- This action is viewed as an assault on federal climate science, aiming to weaken measurement capabilities and create uncertainty about climate change.
- Congress intervened, passing a bill to halt the dismantling and preserve the network, leading to a temporary pause in removal and redeployment of sensors.
- Despite the pause, the system's future is uncertain, with a panel to be convened, and data streams have already been interrupted.
- The Ocean Observatories Initiative provides critical data on deep-ocean temperature, essential for forecasting climate shocks and managing fisheries.
- Degrading these observation systems increases forecast errors and risks economic losses from disasters and impacts on fisheries.
- Permanent protection for these critical monitoring systems is needed through legislative action to prevent them from being vulnerable to election outcomes.