Trump administration halts work on national climate report, dismissing hundreds of volunteer scientists
In a move that could derail the nation’s top climate science report, the Trump administration abruptly dismissed over 400 volunteer experts working on the next National Climate Assessment.
Dinah Voyles Pulver reports for USA Today.
In short:
- The National Climate Assessment, a congressionally required report summarizing the effects of climate change on the U.S., has been paused, and all volunteer scientists were dismissed without explanation.
- The move follows a broader pattern of actions undermining federal climate science, including staff firings, canceled meetings, and contract terminations across key agencies like NASA.
- Experts warn that halting the report could make it legally vulnerable, even as 2025 is shaping up to be another record-breaking year for global temperatures.
Key quote:
“The Trump administration senselessly took a hatchet to a crucial and comprehensive U.S. climate science report by dismissing its authors without cause or a plan.”
— Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director, Union of Concerned Scientists
Why this matters:
The National Climate Assessment translates oceans of data into something a parent, a nurse, or a policymaker can actually use. Every four years, it provides insight into wildfire vulnerabilities, crops that are likely to fail, which neighborhoods will flood, and how our health systems will be pushed to the brink. And now, in the middle of another record-breaking year of extreme weather, it’s being mothballed — leaving everyone from farmers to city planners to hospitals in the dark when it comes to building climate resilience and planning for future disasters.
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