Context: GOOS Report Card, 2022, was published highlighting the marine and ocean data.

About the report

• It is a high-level annual report providing a deep insight on the state, capacity and value of our Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).

• GOOS is a collaborative platform with six key components that help define ocean observing requirements, coordinate observing networks, and ensure the flow of data and forecasts. 

• The GOOS Ocean Observing System Report Card was prepared in collaboration with World Meteorological Organization(WMO), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) and other GOOS partners and experts, and produced by its operational centre OceanOPS.

• The report card focuses on how an integrated observing network adds value to society across three delivery areas of climate, operational services and ocean health. 

• It highlights physical, biogeochemical and, for the first time, biological observations, providing a global view of the state of ocean observations and identifying progress, key challenges and opportunities to enhance the system.

The 2022 Report Card includes several key areas

• Global view of the state of the Global Ocean Observing System.

• Monitoring ocean carbon uptake to allow more accurate climate model projections.

• Advancing coastal inundation forecasts and early warnings.

• Phytoplankton observations – vital for understanding changes in food webs and shifts in marine life.

• Involvement of new communities through the GOOS Ocean Decade Programmes.

• The Ocean Observing System Report Card has been published annually since 2017. GOOS is a global system for sustained observations of the ocean.

• As per the 2022 report, system to observe carbon concentration in the world’s oceans is extremely inadequate to meet the growing and urgent need for information on oceanic carbon.

• This is especially worrying given that 26 per cent of the 40 gigatonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere annually because of human activities is absorbed by the oceans. 

• Oceanic carbon information is thus critical for designing decarbonisation policies and needs investments.

• The report card also noted that environment monitoring systems, including air and ocean, were affected during the pandemic years. But most activities were slowly returning to normal and continued automation was supporting increased data delivery, the report card claimed. 

• The report card also urged investments in areas including strengthening capacity to collect data from a growing mix of ocean carbon sensors and platforms and ensured access to FAIR data.

• FAIR data means data which meet principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability. Expanding the carbon observing network to coastal waters and areas under national jurisdiction will also demand investments.

Note: GOOS is an Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC)-led programme. The IOC is part of UNESCO.