Donald Trump’s administration disbands the authors of the major United States climate report
WASHINGTON: The authors of the United States’ top climate report were dismissed by President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday, April 28, a decision that experts warned might jeopardize a crucial assessment required by Congress and essential to the country’s readiness to combat global warming.
The administration told Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6) contributors that the report’s “scope” was being “reevaluated” and that they were being “released from their roles,” but it did not provide a timeframe for possible reengagement.
The decision is the most recent flashpoint in Trump’s broad attempts to restructure the federal government, especially in the field of science, and comes after mass firings at the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the federal agency in charge of the congressionally mandated report, earlier this month.
The action was criticized as being careless and politically driven by Rachel Cleetus, a senior policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and a previous author on NCA6’s chapter on coastal consequences.
“Today, the Trump administration senselessly took a hatchet to a crucial and comprehensive US climate science report by dismissing its authors without cause or a plan,” Cleetus said in a statement. “Trying to bury this report won’t alter the scientific facts one bit, but without this information, our country risks blindly entering a world made more dangerous by human-caused climate change.” A request for comment from the White House was not answered.
Other writers expressed their annoyance and concern at the extraordinary interruption of the scientific method on social media, confirming that they had also gotten the same notifications.
Trump has fired thousands of Federal professionals, including public health and climate scientists, as part of his aggressive makeover of federal institutions since taking office again.
Additionally, it has diverted organizations like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Institutes of Health from environmental and climatic research.
The interruption of NCA6 occurs at a dangerous moment: recent international evaluations show that global temperatures have risen by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius beyond preindustrial levels, which is causing wildfires, droughts, floods, and storms to deteriorate across the United States.
A key component of the US government’s knowledge of the climate is the National Climate Assessment, which was first released in 2000 and synthesizes feedback from hundreds of outside experts as well as governmental departments.
Prior incarnations have issued dire warnings about the growing threats to the infrastructure, economy, and health of the United States if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced.
The papers have become essential reference points for legislators, corporations, and municipal governments preparing climate resilience initiatives, even if they do not explicitly prescribe legislation.
The federal government is legally required to provide the climate assessment to the president and Congress in accordance with the Global Change Research Act of 1990. We still don’t know if the administration’s efforts will ultimately lead to the report’s delay, compromise, or complete cancellation.