The Trump administration is set to terminate two NASA missions that monitor a potent greenhouse gas and plant health, potentially cutting off a data source for scientists, policymakers and farmers.
President Donald Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 includes no funding for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, which can accurately pinpoint where carbon dioxide is being emitted and absorbed and how well crops are growing.
NASA stated in an emailed statement on Wednesday that the missions were “beyond their prime mission” and being terminated “to align with the President’s agenda and budget priorities.”
However, the missions – a free-flying satellite launched in 2014 and an instrument attached to the International Space Station in 2019 that include technology used in the Hubble Space Telescope – remain more sensitive and accurate than any other systems in the world, operating or planned, and a “national asset” that should be preserved, according to David Crisp, a retired NASA scientist who led their development.
For instance, they assisted scientists in discovering that the Amazon rainforest emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, while boreal forests in Canada, Russia and areas where permafrost is melting absorb more than they emit, Crisp said, reports The Mirror US.
They can also detect the “glow” of photosynthesis in plants, which aids in monitoring drought and predicting food shortages that can lead to civil unrest and famine, he added.
“This is really critical,” Crisp stated. “We’re learning so much about this rapidly changing planet.”
Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist at the University of Michigan, described the decision to terminate the missions as “extremely shortsighted,”.
“The observations provided by these satellites … (are) critical for managing growing climate change impacts around the planet, including in the U.S.,” he commented.