The announcement comes a day after the US Senate passed a bipartisan bill aimed at blocking removal of the deep-sea instruments.
Installed more than a decade ago, the network reportedly cost around US$360 million ($625m) and was meant to remain active for 25 years. Its data is used to monitor the effects of climate change on marine environments.
Researchers have used it to study how the ocean absorbs greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, the effects of marine heatwaves on fisheries, and how ocean currents influence weather.
The announcement also coincides with the UN climate chief, Simon Stiell, warning against nations “backsliding” on global warming concerns and the reduction in fossil fuel usage.
The energy crisis triggered by the war in the Middle East has fuelled calls for countries to shift away from fossil fuels and step up efforts to deploy renewable energy.
In a statement wrapping up a two-week conference in Germany, Stiell said “real strides” were made on certain issues, but “in others, we have seen some side-stepping and stalling”.
“We simply cannot afford to re-open previous decisions, to renegotiate existing targets, or to backslide.”
On Wednesday, delegates representing the EU, Switzerland and dozens of developing nations accused some countries of undermining the scientific consensus on global warming.
The preparatory talks had seen “coordinated attacks across the negotiation rooms by the small number of fossil fuel interests”, said Manjeet Dhakal, an adviser to the 44-nation Least Developed Countries bloc.
No country was singled out by name. But Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich states have been accused in the past of opposing stronger climate action.
German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider said that “an informed and fact-based public debate” on the consequences of climate change was vital, adding: “This makes attacks on the scientific foundations of climatology … all the more serious. It is encouraging to see a large number of countries, both in the Global South and the Global North, clearly uniting against this.”
– AFP
