Key facts
- The National Science Foundation has reversed its decision to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative network.
- The NSF will halt efforts to remove or disable equipment and will redeploy previously removed instruments.
- An expert panel will be convened to determine the future of the network.
- The Ocean Observatories Initiative is a network of over 900 ocean sensors costing $386 million.
- The network tracks ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, climate change, and extreme weather, providing freely available data.
- The decision to dismantle was met with objections from Democratic lawmakers and scientists.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has reversed its decision to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI), a critical network of over 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386 million. The reversal came after significant objections from Democratic lawmakers and scientists who depend on the OOI for data on ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, climate change, and extreme weather.
The NSF stated it appreciates the concerns raised and will halt efforts to remove or disable equipment. It also plans to redeploy instruments already removed and establish an expert panel to guide the network's future. The OOI has been instrumental in producing freely available data that has informed more than 500 scientific publications and was slated to operate for another 15 to 20 years.
Previously, the NSF had directed the removal of most instruments by 2027 from waters off Oregon, Washington, Alaska, North Carolina, and Greenland, a decision that scientists reported occurred without warning or scientific review. This move was viewed as part of a broader trend of scaling back environmental and climate science under the current administration, which has also seen reductions in staffing at agencies like NOAA and the EPA, and easing of emissions regulations.
Democratic senators and House committees had sent letters urging the NSF to reconsider, with House lawmakers accusing the agency of acting illegally. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon called the initial decision "supreme stupidity" and vowed to continue fighting for the data's accessibility.