US ocean observation critical to understanding climate change, but lacks long-term national planning

Ocean observing systems are important as they provide information essential for monitoring and forecasting changes in Earth’s climate on timescales ranging from days to centuries. A new report finds that continuity of ocean observations is vital to gain an accurate understanding of the climate, and calls for a decadal, national plan that is adequately resourced and implemented to ensure critical ocean information is available to understand and predict future changes.