Key points
- Scientists say move threatens to derail a critical assessment mandated by Congress
- Report vital to the nation’s preparedness against global warming
- Trump’s administration has targeted scientific research
ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday disbanded the authors of the United States’ premier climate report, a move scientists said threatens to derail a critical assessment mandated by Congress and vital to the nation’s preparedness against global warming.
In an email sent to contributors of the Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6), the administration said the report’s “scope” was being “reevaluated” and informed participants they were being “released from their roles,” with no timeline offered for potential reengagement.
According to Reuters, Trump’s administration has targeted scientific research in several areas in sweeping government job cuts to curtail what it calls wasteful spending, including at the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Right-wing influence
The climate assessment was a target of Project 2025, the right-wing Heritage Foundation-written policy blueprint that has helped shape some of Trump’s policies.
Project 2025’s chapter on scientific agencies said the National Climate Assessment should be reshaped to ensure contributors are better scrutinised.
The decision follows mass firings earlier this month at the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the federal body overseeing the congressionally required report, and marks the latest flashpoint in Trump’s sweeping efforts to reshape the federal government, particularly in the realm of science.
“Flying blind”
Rachel Cleetus, a senior policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and a former author on NCA6’s chapter on coastal impacts, blasted the move as reckless and politically motivated.
“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 flying blind into a world made more dangerous by human-caused climate change.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Other authors also took to social media to confirm they had received identical notices, expressing frustration and alarm over the unprecedented disruption of the scientific process.
Since returning to office, Trump has embarked on an aggressive overhaul of federal institutions, firing thousands of civil servants, including climate scientists and public health experts.
It has also steered agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Institutes of Health away from climate and environmental research.
Perilous time
The disruption of NCA6 comes at a perilous time: global temperatures have begun to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels, according to recent international analyses, fueling worsening wildfires, droughts, floods, and storms across the United States.
The National Climate Assessment, first published in 2000, is a cornerstone of US government climate understanding, synthesizing input from federal agencies and hundreds of external scientists.
Previous iterations have warned in stark terms of mounting risks to America’s economy, infrastructure, and health if greenhouse gas emissions are not curtailed.
While not directly prescriptive on policy, the reports have served as critical guideposts for lawmakers, businesses, and local governments planning climate resilience measures.
Under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, the federal government is legally obligated to deliver the climate assessment to Congress and the president. It remains unclear whether the administration’s actions will ultimately delay, compromise, or cancel the report entirely.
