'Apocalyptic': Trump admin now 'taking a broad ax' to this agency’s 'life-saving' work
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 budget reportedly seeks to effectively dismantle the scientific research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shut down critical weather laboratories, and slash the agency’s budget by more than 25 percent. NOAA serves as the primary source of weather forecasting in the United States and is a vital contributor to global forecasting efforts.
SCIENCE, the flagship journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, says that it has seen an internal document, and reports that the administration’s goal is to end climate research at NOAA.
“The document indicates the White House is ready to ask Congress to eliminate NOAA’s climate research centers and cut hundreds of federal and academic climate scientists who track and study human-driven global warming,” SCIENCE reveals. “The administration is also preparing to ask for deep cuts to NASA’s science programs, according to media reports today.”
Citing internal White House documents, CNN reports that the massive cuts may be enacted immediately.
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“The cuts would devastate weather and climate research as weather is becoming more erratic, extreme and costly. It would cripple the US industries — including agriculture — that depend on free, accurate weather and climate data and expert analysis. It could also halt research on deadly weather, including severe storms and tornadoes.”
Some are calling it privatizing access to weather data.
Dr. Robert Rohde, chief scientist at Berkeley Earth, a nonprofit providing climate and environmental data, called the plan “apocalyptic.”
“#$%!,” Dr. Rohde wrote on Friday. “This looks apocalyptic for NOAA’s climate research. Trump’s near-final budget proposal would end NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers.”
Meteorologist Matt Lanza calls it “devastating.”
“The function of weather forecasting requires climate data stored at these regional centers. Not to mention intentionally degrading satellites will stagnate progress on our research and understand of weather. Call your congressional representatives,” Lanza urged.
Science and environmental journalist Andrew Revkin calls it part of “Trump’s climate science demolition derby.”
Michael Lowry, a hurricane and storm surge expert, writes: “It’s hard to overstate how catastrophic this would be for hurricane forecasts. Should Congress approve the move, it would undo 50 years of hurricane forecast improvement. The folks taking a broad ax to climate are hacking away decades of progress to life-saving weather forecasts.”
Climate and hurricane specialist John Morales warns, “this will cost lives and livelihoods. It will further wreck the American economy (which is well on its way to being wrecked). Weather and climate impact a significant percentage of our GDP. It’s just stupid.”
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U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) blasted the move in a video (below) late Friday afternoon.
“I’ve just learned the Trump administration is dismantling the research arm of NOAA, which gets us all of the weather and climate research we need, that people in agriculture need, that people in business need, and that all of a miracle of the world needs in terms of fighting climate change,” Congressman Raskin said. “But all of that is out the window now.”
“All of the research on hurricanes, your daily weather forecasts, it’s all going to be shift over now to private, for profit entities that want to make money off of the information that we were getting, and we should be getting as part of our government commitment to learn about the weather and to learn about the climate.”
He also slammed Republicans, saying that they “of course, don’t believe in climate change.”
“They think that’re going to address climate change by banning the use of the words, and now they’re going to remove the scientific capacity to get the information that we need. It’s just a scandalous and shocking and intolerable turn of events right here, and we’re going to fight them every step along the way to restore NOAA, to its full capacity.”
Watch the video below or at this link.
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