NASA Slashing Observation of Earth

mattnyc99 writes: A new report by the National Research Council warns that, by 2010, the number of NASA's Earth-observing missions will drop dramatically, and the number of operating sensors and instruments on NASA spacecraft will decrease by 40 percent. From the report: "The United States' extraordinary foundation of global observations is at great risk." So what does it all mean? Popular Mechanics asks an MIT professor involved in the findings.