“Just about every component of the agency contributes to our understanding of the climate,” said Craig McLean, the former director of Noaa research who served the agency for four decades before retiring in 2022. McLean said that, for all the agency provides, it already operates close to the edge. “If we start taking people away that has a further exacerbating effect,” he said. “We are barely able to keep our heads above water at this point.”
Hundreds of workers indiscriminately let go in recent weeks hang in limbo, their jobs paused while courts examine the legality of the Trump administration’s sweeping firings. Meanwhile, the agency is bracing for the next rounds of cuts as leaders make moves to comply with Trump’s “reduction in force”, an order that will cull 1,029 more positions.
Vital work has slowed or stopped as teams try to navigate the chaos, along with the threat of severe budget cuts and political restrictions. Employees have been asked to compile databases of contracts and grants that contain references to environmental policy or particular key words, including “climate change”, “diversity” and “environmental agreement”, for further evaluation.
Dr Andy Hazelton, a scientist who worked on hurricane modeling at Noaa before he lost his position last month, said the firings across the agency and the pressures felt by those still there will affect the outcome of the work. “It’s going to create problems across the board,” he said, adding that people are going to do their best but it will be a lot harder to achieve the mission. “It may be a slow process, but the forecasts are going to suffer and, as a result, people will suffer.”
While the losses are expected to have a profound impact on the American public, the impact will be felt globally, too. Scientists and forecasters around the world depend on Noaa satellites, studies and intel, including data sharing that tracks severe weather across Europe, coordination for disaster response in the Caribbean, and monitoring deforestation and the effects of the climate crisis in the Amazon rainforest.
Already, the US has lost its position as a scientific leader after the president’s withdrawal from international accords. The president also reportedly stopped government scientists and other US representatives from participating in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meetings.
Among the 800 positions cut were workers who track El Niño/La Niña weather patterns around the world, people who model severe storm risks and scientists contributing to global understanding of what could happen as the world warms.
“Noaa has a mission of protecting the American public – a mission that is now at risk – but the dangers extend far beyond the US borders,” said former public affairs specialist and climate scientist Tom Di Liberto in a written statement. “Noaa’s long history of international collaboration of sharing climate, early warning systems, fisheries management and scientific research will be damaged.”
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