Trump's US budget will cut ocean data, leaving boaters, anglers and forecasters scrambling for info
Capt. Ed Enos makes his living as a harbor pilot in Hawaii, clambering aboard arriving ships in the predawn hours and guiding them into port.
His world revolves around wind speeds, current strength and wave swells. When Enos is bobbing in dangerous waters in the dark, his cellphone is his lifeline: with a few taps he can access the Integrated Ocean Observing System and pull up the data needed to guide what are essentially floating warehouses safely to the dock.
But maybe not for much longer.
US President Donald Trump wants to eliminate all federal funding for the observing system's regional operations. Scientists say the cuts could mean the end of efforts to gather real-time data crucial to navigating treacherous harbors, plotting tsunami escape routes and predicting hurricane intensity.
'It's the last thing you should be shutting down,' Enos said. 'There's no money wasted. Right at a time when we should be getting more money to do more work to benefit the public, they want to turn things off. That's the wrong strategy at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.'
Monitoring system tracks all things ocean
The IOOS system launched about 20 years ago. It's made up of 11 regional associations in multiple states and territories, including the Virgin Islands, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington state, Michigan, South Carolina and Southern California.
The regional groups are networks of university researchers, conservation groups, businesses and anyone else gathering or using maritime data. The associations are the Swiss army knife of oceanography, using buoys, submersible drones and radar installations to track water temperature, wind speed, atmospheric pressure, wave speeds, swell heights and current strength.
The networks monitor the Great Lakes, US coastlines, the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump renamed the Gulf of America, the Gulf of Alaska, the Caribbean and the South Pacific and upload member data to public websites in real time.
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Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Ecostani: Dying, melting glaciers have served a warning. Do we care?
A glacial collapse buried part of a village in Birch, Switzerland, on May 28. Many miles away, in Nepal, Yala glacier was declared dead on May 12. A new study by an international team of researchers, published on May 30, warned that if global warming targets under the Paris climate deal exceed, the non-polar glacial mass would diminish significantly — by almost half. The Himalayas, which is termed as the third Polar glacial mass on the planet, is no less affected. According to studies by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the majority of glaciers in the Himalayan range are melting at a faster rate than it was prior to 2010. A study in April 2025 by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said that annual winter snow in Himalaya in the past four years has been lowest in decades and in May it declared Yala glacier to be dead, the first for Nepal, and a rare glacial event. To add to this, a new study by Climate Trends released on May 31 showed that concentration of black carbon (BC) emissions in the mountain range, especially Eastern and Central Himalayas, was increasing, which could have implications for water supply for 2 billion people in South Asia. According to the report, the average snow surface temperatures in the Himalayan snow peaks have increased by more than 4°C over the last two decades, from an average of -11.27°C (2000–2009) to -7.13°C (2020–2023). Over the 23-year period, the overall mean temperature increase was -8.57°C, meaning faster melting of snow. Black carbon, whose deposits have increased, acts like a heat lamp on snow, it darkens the surface, accelerates melting, and triggers a dangerous feedback loop. The latest World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) report has warned that there is an 80% chance that a year between 2025 and 2029 will be warmer than the record-breaking 2024 and an 86% likelihood that another year will exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the threshold beyond which climate change will make human life more difficult. The WMO said the 1.5°C (and 2°C) level specified in the Paris Agreement refers to the long-term level of warming inferred from global temperatures, typically over 20 years. Temporary exceedances of such levels are expected to occur with increasing frequency as the underlying rise in global temperature approaches the level. The report concluded that any additional 'fraction of a degree of warming' drives more harmful heatwaves, extreme rainfall events, intense droughts, melting of ice sheets and glaciers, and heating of the ocean. In South Asia, it would mean more water in the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra, for some decades, which might eventually turn dry. Around 40% of India's Gross Domestic Product is dependent on people and industry in these river basin regions. The landslide that buried most of a Swiss village this week is just one of the several examples across the world how global warming was causing glacier collapses. Officials said that in Switzerland, the mountainside gave way on May 28, 2025, near the village of Blatten, in the southern Lötschental valley, because the rock face above the Birch Glacier had become unstable after mountain permafrost melted, causing debris to fall and cover the glacier in recent years. No one was injured. In 2016, a glacier in Tibet's, Aru mountain range suddenly collapsed, killing nine people and their livestock, followed a few months later by the collapse of another glacier. There also have been collapses in Peru, including one in 2006 that caused a mini tsunami; most recently, a glacial lagoon overflowed in April, triggering a landslide that killed two. The Glacial Lake OutBurst FLow (GLOF) caused by faster melting of glaciers caused massive flooding in Rishi Ganga and Dhauli rivers in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand in February 2021, killing 80 people. Two hydro power projects were badly damaged due to the heavy flow of debris. The study by ETH Zurich told us what could happen to glaciers with the present pace of global warming with 54% of the non-polar glaciers likely to 'diminish significantly'. However, if warming is limited to 1.5°C, at least 54 per cent could be preserved—more than twice as much ice as in a 2.7°C scenario. The findings, published in the prestigious journal Science, said even if global temperatures were stabilised at today's level of 1.2°C, an estimated 39% of global glacier mass would still be lost compared to 2020 levels — contributing over 10 centimetres to global sea-level rise. The study is the work of an international team of 21 scientists from 10 countries using eight glacier models to calculate the potential ice loss from more than 200,000 glaciers outside Greenland and Antarctica. The team evaluated a wide range of global temperature scenarios, assuming that temperatures would remain constant for thousands of years in each scenario. In all scenarios, glaciers lose mass rapidly over decades and then continue to melt at a slower pace for centuries — even without additional warming. This long-term response means glaciers will continue to feel the effects of today's heat far into the future, gradually retreating to higher altitudes before reaching a new equilibrium. Glaciers are good indicators of climate change because their retreat allows scientists to measure impact of climate change. But, since they adjust over longer timescales, their current size vastly understates the magnitude of climate change that has already happened. 'The situation for glaciers is actually far worse than visible in the mountains today,' said the study's co-lead author Lilian Schuster from the University of Innsbruck. Beyond contributing to sea-level rise, glacier loss has far-reaching consequences. It threatens freshwater availability, increases the risk of glacier-related hazards such as floods and landslides, and jeopardises glacier-fed tourism economies. These cascading impacts will be felt across regions and generations. A high-level meeting on glacial melt was held this week in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to discuss the impact of global warming on glaciers, which have already melt around 40% since the last ice age and most of it has happened in the past 400 and 700 years. At the meeting, which is a welcome step, there was a discussion on an action plan to reduce glacial melt. Whether it would fructify remains a big future question like several other environmental agreements. Although there has been a lot of science and research of glacial melt, negligible policy action has been seen from the global community to protect mountain biodiversity and forests. There is no incentive for hill communities to protect the mountains, no additional prohibitive taxes are being imposed on pollution vehicles entering ecologically fragile mountainous regions and heavy use of pesticides have already polluted ground water in several mountain regions of the world. Unlike people's movements against air pollution, there is no collective voice to protect glaciers and mountains that provide water and life to billions. Civil society bodies and so-called climate champions have failed glaciers the most. Saving glaciers needs a new trans-continental approach with active people participation on preserving local ecology and controlling emissions. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Hindustan Times
30-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Hindu Kush Himalaya could loss 75% of its glaciers by 2100, warns new study
The Hindu Kush Himalaya could lose up to 75 per cent of its glaciers by the year 2100 if global temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, revealed a study published by the Science journal. Glacier loss, also known as glacier melt or glacial retreat, refers to the reduction of ice mass in glaciers and ice sheets. This loss primarily results from increased temperatures causing melting, sublimation (water evaporating directly from ice), and icebergs breaking apart. The study named 'Social impacts of glacier loss' notes that the critical water source which nourishes more than 2 billion people in the Indian subcontinent could lose its glacier cover. Such a loss of glacier cover could cause far reaching consequences for the water security across Asia. Also Read: Swiss glacier collapses, destroys nearly all of Alpine village. Watch wild video If countries succeed in limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, the study estimates that 40-45 per cent of glacier ice in the Himalayas and the Caucasus could be preserved. Globally, this would mean retaining 54 per cent of current glacier mass, compared to just 24 per cent if the world continues on its current trajectory toward 2.7 degrees Celsius of warming by the end of the century. Also Read: Research finds glaciers far more vulnerable to global warming than earlier estimates Other regions with high glacier mass such as the European Alps, the North American Rockies and Iceland, are at risk as well, increasing water insecurity across the globe. At 2 degrees celsius of warming, these areas could lose nearly all their ice, with only 10-15 per cent of their 2020 glacier levels remaining. At such a level, the entirety of Scandinavia could loss their glaciers. Also Read: Glaciologists, local communities mourn loss of Nepal's Yala glacier The study shows that glacier mass will decline rapidly for decades, even if temperatures stabilize, with long-term impacts persisting for centuries. 'Our study makes it painfully clear that every fraction of a degree matters. The choices made today, scientists warn, will determine the future of the world's glaciers—and the billions who depend on them," said co-lead author Dr Harry Zekollari. The study also states that the loss of glaciers will increase stress on food chains and microbiomes vital to human life on Earth. The research paper notes, 'Melting raises sea levels, and affects water resources downstream including their ecosystemic biodiversity. In addition, melting glaciers can compound other natural hazards such as increasing the formation of icebergs and accelerating permafrost erosion. They can also harm economic systems such as the tourism industry and damage cultural heritage. As impacts to the cryosphere accelerate, so, too, do social repercussions.'
Indian Express
29-05-2025
- Indian Express
Study: Only 24% present-day glaciers will remain if world gets warmer by 2.7°C
If the world gets warmer by 2.7°C due to the current trajectory of climate policies, only 24% of the world's present-day glaciers will remain, said a new study published in Science signalling that glaciers are more sensitive to global warming than had been previously estimated. Limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C — as adopted in the Paris climate agreement — could preserve up to 54% or twice as much glacier mass, the study said. The study comes just a day after a huge portion of a glacier in the Swiss village of Blatten, in the Alps, collapsed into the valley, burying most of a mountain village in the foothills. The projected figures in the study were for global scenarios, and skewed by the very large glaciers around Antarctica and Greenland. The study cautioned that even if temperatures stopped rising today, the world's glaciers would still lose 39% of their mass, compared to 2020 levels, and that would lead to a sea level rise of 113 mm. Among the most vulnerable regions, as per the study, were glaciers in Scandinavia, Rockies in Western Canada and the US, and European Alps. In Scandinavia, no glacier ice would be left at 2°C warming while Rockies and European Alps would see only 10-15% glaciers left at the same levels of warming. Even at a level of 1°C warming, these regions will lose half their ice, the study noted. 'Our study makes it painfully clear that every fraction of a degree matters,' says co-lead author Dr Harry Zekollari from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. 'The choices we make today will resonate for centuries, determining how much of our glaciers can be preserved,' he said. 'Glaciers are good indicators of climate change because their retreat allows us to see with our own eyes how climate is changing…[but] the situation for glaciers is actually far worse than visible in the mountains today,' says co-lead author Dr Lilian Schuster from the University of Innsbruck. Though Indian glaciers — particularly those in western South Asia — show a lower projected loss of 5% under current warming, the study underscores that these regions are highly sensitive to additional warming. For every extra 0.1°C increase in global temperatures between 1.5°C and 3°C, glacier loss accelerates rapidly — by about 2% globally, with even steeper losses in Indian sub-regions. India's key river basins – Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra – support millions of livelihoods in north India, north east and the Indo-Gangetic plains. In the Hindu Kush Himalayas, only 25% of ice from 2020 levels will be left at 2°C of warming. To get these results, a team of 21 scientists from 10 countries used eight glacier models to calculate the potential ice loss of the more than 200,000 glaciers worldwide, under a wide range of global temperature scenarios. The study used advanced simulations over multi-centennial timescales, revealing that some glacier systems — particularly in the polar regions — might take up to a thousand years to fully respond to today's climate.
