Old Rocks
Diamond Member
As Arctic Sea Ice Shows Record Decline, Scientists Prepare to Go Blind
The US satellites currently in orbit are already past their expiry date, with some already cutting out. When these satellites fail completely, Arctic researchers warn, the ongoing scientific record keeping will come to an abrupt end, with no funding and no time left to replace the aging infrastructure.
“It is unfortunate and disturbing that right at the time we’re seeing sea ice cover in rapid transition, we’re in danger of losing some of our key capabilities to observe what’s happening and understand it,” says Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
For all intents and purposes, Arctic scientists – and the world – could very soon be blind to the tumultuous changes happening in the Arctic until 2022 or 2023, with no viable international systems coming on board in time to completely fill in the coverage gap.
The fault for the failure lies with a US Congress hostile to funding climate change research. Major cuts were made to the DMSP satellites when Obama was in office, and the situation is unlikely to improve under the Trump administration. In his proposed “skinny” budget released in March, and again in his more detailed proposed budget this week, President Trump called for cuts to NASA satellite missions, including NOAA’s next two polar orbiting satellites.
So this is what the fat senile old orange clown and the GOP considers to be a smart action. What absolute idiocy. We need to remove that piece of shit from the Presidency as soon as possible. Our nation is being severely damage by his pursuit of the ultimate in stupidity.
The US satellites currently in orbit are already past their expiry date, with some already cutting out. When these satellites fail completely, Arctic researchers warn, the ongoing scientific record keeping will come to an abrupt end, with no funding and no time left to replace the aging infrastructure.
“It is unfortunate and disturbing that right at the time we’re seeing sea ice cover in rapid transition, we’re in danger of losing some of our key capabilities to observe what’s happening and understand it,” says Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
For all intents and purposes, Arctic scientists – and the world – could very soon be blind to the tumultuous changes happening in the Arctic until 2022 or 2023, with no viable international systems coming on board in time to completely fill in the coverage gap.
The fault for the failure lies with a US Congress hostile to funding climate change research. Major cuts were made to the DMSP satellites when Obama was in office, and the situation is unlikely to improve under the Trump administration. In his proposed “skinny” budget released in March, and again in his more detailed proposed budget this week, President Trump called for cuts to NASA satellite missions, including NOAA’s next two polar orbiting satellites.
So this is what the fat senile old orange clown and the GOP considers to be a smart action. What absolute idiocy. We need to remove that piece of shit from the Presidency as soon as possible. Our nation is being severely damage by his pursuit of the ultimate in stupidity.
