Via PBS News \\\ Why is Trump dismantling deep-sea ocean sensors?

 

Watch the segment in the player above. Scientists across the country are expressing alarm as the Trump administration dismantles another tool for understanding how the planet is changing. Starting this month, more than 900 deep-sea ocean sensors will be pulled out of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans off the coast of Washington, Oregon, Alaska, North Carolina and Greenland. Researchers say these are some of the most critical ocean observation tools we have. William Brangham sat down with Amna Nawaz to discuss what these sensors are and why researchers say they are so important. It’s an especially fraught time to be cutting this kind of research because of a pair of phenomena happening in the oceans right now, including what is being called a “Super El Niño.” So what is El Niño and how could it affect the weather this year? PBS News’ Maria Ramirez Uribe breaks it down. Have a science question or a favorite science story from this week? Email us at sciencedesk@newshour.org.