©️picture : The New York Times
Washington, June 3, 2026.- The administration of President Donald Trump decided to withdraw nearly 900 scientific instruments deployed in the oceans to monitor global warming and the evolution of major marine currents. Revealed by the New York Times, this decision causes shock in the scientific world. The equipment involved included a study of the southern rollover circulation of the Atlantic (AMOC), a vast system of ocean currents that transported heat from the tropics to the North Atlantic and played a key role in regulating global climate.
Installed since 2016 in several strategic areas, notably off Alaska, Oregon, North Carolina and between Greenland and Iceland, these instruments have provided essential data on the absorption of heat and carbon dioxide by the oceans. The US administration claims that their withdrawal will save about $48 million a year. A justification strongly challenged by several democrat elected officials, who denounce the abandonment of a $368 million science program, originally designed to operate until 2041.
The measure was announced by the National Science Foundation on 21 May 2026 as part of the budget cuts and the reorientation of the scientific priorities undertaken by the Trump administration since its return to the White House in January 2025. Dismantling operations have already started at some sites and are expected to take about 15 months, with the first major withdrawal planned for June 16 off Oregon. For researchers, this decision represents a new setback for climate science in the United States. They are concerned that an interruption in these observations may compromise years of research and weaken understanding of the mechanisms that accelerate global climate change.
This decision comes at a time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations reference body on climate change, recalls that the oceans absorb nearly 90% of the excess heat generated by human activities. As water warms, their capacity to store carbon decreases, thus enhancing global warming. In a world faced with a succession of climate disasters, the disappearance of these monitoring tools is seen by many as a scientific loss whose consequences could be felt far beyond US borders.
Quetya AUBIN with The New York Times
