Environment & Energy

And plans on deorbiting two critical climate monitoring satellites. What one cannot measure then is no longer an existential problem?
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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/climate/trump-climate-satellites.html
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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/climate/budget-cuts-climate-observatories.html
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Note:

NOAA and the General Services Administration say they’re working to find “suitable alternative space.". The NOAA lab on Hilo is where the CO2 monitoring flasks go for analysis. That building is or will soon be closed. The lease expired on August 31, 2025. The Mauna Loa Observatory is not slated to be closed. It is the actual site where atmospheric CO2 is manually measured.

At Mauna Loa Observatory, NOAA uses two main methods:

1. Continuous infrared analyzer (automated):

Air is drawn in through intake lines and passed into nondispersive infrared gas analyzers.

This gives real-time CO₂ readings, updated minute by minute.

These data are screened and corrected for calibration drift.



2. Flask sampling (manual handling):

Staff physically collect air in glass flasks on set schedules.

The flasks are then sent to a central lab (traditionally the Hilo office, now in question) for high-precision analysis by gas chromatography.

These manual measurements serve as the calibration backbone for the automated sensors, ensuring the long-term accuracy of the CO₂ record.




So: the famous Keeling Curve is based on automated instruments, but those instruments rely on manual flask measurements for quality control.