US President Donald Trump’s administration is moving towards closing two missions of space agency NASA, which is associated with monitoring greenhouse gas and plants. This move of the Trump administration may discontinue an important data source for scientists, policy makers and farmers.
The budget proposal of the US President’s financial year 2026 does not include any amount for ‘Orbiting Carbon Observatory’ missions. These missions can accurately show where carbon dioxide is being emitted and absorbed and how well crops are growing.
In a statement sent on email on Wednesday, NASA said that he is being abolished “as per the President’s agenda and budget priorities”. Meanwhile, a retired NASA scientist David Crisp said that the technology used in these missions is still more sensitive and accurate than any existing or proposed system in the world. These are a “national property” that should be saved.
According to Crisp, with the help of these missions, scientists discovered that the Amazon emits more than the carbon dioxide as the rainforest, while the borial forests of Canada, Russia and areas (where snow are melting) are more absorbed.
