A "legally mandated," critical climate resource abruptly went dark, and scientists say its absence threatens a high cost in terms of both lives and money.
What's happening?
The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) began in 1989 and was formally established by Congress in 1990, tasked with monitoring and integrating data about changes to the climate.
On Monday, June 30, the agency's site became inaccessible, "with no links, notes or referrals elsewhere." It simply vanished, the following message in its place: "This site can't be reached."
Kathy Jacobs, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona, said USGCRP served as the "most reliable and well-reviewed source" for climate data in the United States.
She remarked that it was a "sad day for the United States if it is true that the National Climate Assessment is no longer available," a statement that inadvertently demonstrated the severity of current limitations on climate researchers and meteorologists.
Jacobs characterized the loss of USGCRP as the intentional concealment of inconvenient, factual data.
"This [disappearance] is evidence of serious tampering with the facts and with people's access to information, and it actually may increase the risk of people being harmed by climate-related impacts," she warned.
Haley Crim, formerly of NOAA, posted about the missing data on the day it disappeared.
"Federal climate science is being systematically erased," she observed.
In a follow-up post, Crim described the loss of USGCRP as the "culmination of expired contracts, decisions about individual products, lack of staffing and resources, and refusal to protect climate information."
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According to ABC News, each National Climate Assessment provided "a detailed, peer-reviewed snapshot of climate change's present and future impacts … along with recommendations for adaptation and mitigation strategies" in the United States.
Assessments included climate data from 14 different government agencies, creating an in-depth resource for experts and the American public alike.
In addition to the sudden shuttering of USGCRP's website, NOAA's Climate.gov went offline on June 24.
Currently, Climate.gov points to NOAA's website, with a message indicating the change was in accordance with "with Executive Order 14303, 'Restoring Gold Standard Science.'"
Without access to fluctuating data about climate and weather, scientists and meteorologists are severely restricted in their ability to assess threats, track trends, and warn the public about unexpected extreme weather events.
What can be done about the loss of critical climate data?
At an individual level, Americans can contact their lawmakers to object to the closure of USGCRP's website.
Scientific American reported on the unexpected closure of the site and its potential repercussions, adding that USGCRP's National Climate Assessments "qualify as Highly Influential Scientific Assessments," which are required by law to be "digitally accessible."
Consequently, their removal could be grounds for a "legal challenge" to restore the information.
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