The Cost of Turning Off Ocean Monitoring

Scientists warn that shutting down the United States ocean monitoring system would leave the world flying blind. This system collects the data that helps us understand what is happening in the oceans. It tracks rising temperatures, storms, El Niño, and changes that affect farming, fishing, and coastal safety. Without it, the accuracy of weather and climate forecasts would drop sharply.

Experts say removing the system would severely weaken predictions for hurricanes, tropical storms, and El Niño events. These forecasts protect lives. Farmers use them to plan crops. Emergency managers use them to prepare for storms. Insurance companies use them to estimate risk. Losing this data would make all of these decisions less reliable.

One study found that without U.S. ocean data, errors in measuring ocean heating would rise by 163 percent. Scientists say ocean heat is the strongest signal we have for understanding climate change. If we lose those measurements, we lose our ability to see what the climate is doing in real time.

Researchers also point out that the system is inexpensive compared to the cost of climate disasters. The United States spent 177 billion dollars on climate-related damages in 2024, while the monitoring system costs far less. Scientists argue that removing it would make it harder to prepare for the kinds of events that cause those losses.