2025 Arctic Report Card（同侪审查）警告观测体系的韧性正在下降。Trump政府以削减与干预研究为手段：提案预算将科学经费削减22%，earth-science支出减半；Department of Government Efficiency裁撤National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration与Environmental Protection Agency等机构人员，导致补助取消、出版延宕与人力短缺；National Snow and Ice Data Center甚至失去部分海冰监测等基础服务经费。量化上，用于Arctic Report Card的31套观测系统中有23套主要由美国联邦机构支撑或与其共同支撑；用于分析的资料集中约8/10由美国机构产制。
监测缺口会降低预报模型精度，削弱生态追踪与早期预警能力，连带影响航运预报与渔业管理。Russia合作中断亦使International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic将21座Russian研究站「暂停」，迫使西方更多依赖卫星；但云层与日照限制使其零碎，permafrost研究尤其需要地面量测。虽有英国Advanced Research and Invention Agency等资助新感测计划与Greenland太阳能自主移动观测站等技术进展，仍受资金与部署许可掣肘。Greenland最大资产其实是冰盖：面积1,710,000平方公里（原文：660,000 sq mi），平均厚度1.6公里；若全数融化，海平面将上升超过7公尺，足以淹没Venice、Netherlands大部与Bahamas等地，凸显长期观测被削弱时，局部变化可能外溢为不可逆的全球风险。
Dated 2026-01-15 12:30 (UTC+8; original: 12:30 PM GMT+8), the piece argues US attention has shifted to Donald Trump’s geopolitical fixation on Greenland’s minerals and location while the harder, more urgent work—monitoring Arctic geography and climate—is becoming less feasible. The Arctic is vast, harsh, and heterogeneous, and Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine severed ties with Russian polar researchers, creating a major observational blind spot that the Trump administration is amplifying through its broader assault on science.
The peer-reviewed 2025 Arctic Report Card warns observing systems are losing robustness. Trump’s proposed budget cuts overall scientific funding by 22% and halves earth-science spending, after earlier disruptions: grants canceled, publications delayed, and staffing losses across bodies including NOAA and EPA, with NSIDC losing support for core services such as parts of sea-ice monitoring. Of 31 observing systems informing the Report Card, 23 rely primarily on US federal agencies or joint US backing; about 8 of 10 assessed datasets are produced by US agencies.
Fewer and less consistent observations erode forecast precision, ecosystem tracking, early-warning capacity, shipping guidance, and fisheries management. The Russia break also paused data from a huge area as 21 Russian stations were put on hold, pushing reliance onto satellites that are limited by clouds and light; permafrost study especially needs field measurements. New tools funded by the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency may help, including a solar-powered mobile observatory for Greenland’s ice sheet, but require money and permissions. Greenland’s ice sheet spans 1,710,000 km² (original: 660,000 sq mi), averages 1.6 km thick, and full melt would raise sea level by >7 m, turning missed observation today into global, potentially unstoppable risk.