The Trump administration has moved to end the U.S. lease on NOAA’s Hilo support facility for the Mauna Loa Observatory, threatening the continuity of the world’s most iconic CO₂ measurement record.
At a Glance
- NOAA’s lease on its Hilo support office expires August 31, 2025.
- The Mauna Loa Observatory has produced the Keeling Curve CO₂ record since 1958.
- Scientists say losing the Hilo facility could disrupt sample transport and analysis.
- The General Services Administration is reviewing NOAA lease terminations.
- Environmental groups have called the move a direct assault on climate data infrastructure.
Lease Cancellation Puts CO₂ Monitoring at Risk
As part of a federal consolidation effort, the General Services Administration has announced plans to end NOAA’s lease on the Hilo field office, which supports daily operations at the Mauna Loa Observatory. The closure—slated for August 31, 2025—would eliminate the key facility used to ferry glass flasks of air samples and maintain staff proximity to the mountain site that produces the Keeling Curve, the world’s longest-running atmospheric CO₂ record.
The Washington Post and Reuters both report that the shutdown is part of broader cost-cutting and space-reduction plans advanced by the Trump administration targeting NOAA and other science agencies.
Scientists Sound the Alarm
Atmospheric scientists have responded with alarm. Ralph Keeling, son of the late Charles David Keeling and director of the CO₂ program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, warned that “you need a Hilo office” to keep sample logistics running. Without it, flask-based sampling and continuous measurements could face delays or data gaps.
Researchers fear that even short-term interruptions to the Keeling Curve would erode one of the clearest visualizations of anthropogenic climate change, relied upon in academic studies, international policy briefings, and IPCC climate models.
Broader Implications for Climate Science
The move comes amid other climate data cuts, including reported efforts to halt work on federal climate assessments. In February, multiple news outlets revealed that Trump officials instructed NOAA and NASA scientists to suspend work on scheduled climate modeling initiatives, stoking fears of data suppression.
Environmental groups including the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Sierra Club have denounced the lease termination as a direct attack on “critical monitoring infrastructure” and are pressuring Congress to block the closure. A report from the Center for American Progress warns that without urgent action, core pillars of climate science could be dismantled piecemeal.
If the Hilo office shuts down, it could sever operational ties that have maintained one of the world’s most respected climate records since 1958—placing the global benchmark for CO₂ at risk just as atmospheric levels surpass 427 ppm.
