Several websites that hosted legally mandated U.S. national climate assessments appear to have disappeared, making it difficult for state and local governments and the public to access critical climate-related information. The reports, which are peer-reviewed and considered authoritative, are essential for informed decision-making and mitigating the risks posed by climate change. The White House, which oversees the assessments, claimed the data will be transferred to NASA to comply with the law, but the reports are not found on NASA sites. Searches on NASA websites did not yield the assessments, leaving users with no clear way to access the information.
Climate scientists expressed alarm over the disappearance of the assessments, warning that the move could have serious consequences for public safety and preparedness. “It’s critical for decision makers across the country to know what the science in the National Climate Assessment is,” said Kathy Jacobs, a University of Arizona climate scientist and coordinator of the 2014 report. “That is the most reliable and well-reviewed source of information about climate that exists for the United States. It’s a sad day for the United States if it is true that the National Climate, as well as the U.S. Global Change Research Program, are no longer available,” Jacobs said. “This is evidence of serious tampering with the facts and with people’s access to information, and it may actually increase the risk of people being harmed by climate-related impacts.”
Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist from Texas Tech and a volunteer author for several editions of the report, echoed these concerns, stating, “This is a government resource paid for by the taxpayer to provide the information that is the primary source of information for any city, state or federal agency trying to prepare for the impacts of a changing climate.” While copies of past reports are still preserved in NOAA’s library, the current assessments appear to be inaccessible. NASA’s open science data repository also contains dead links to the assessment site, raising further questions about the transparency and accessibility of climate data. The situation has sparked alarm among experts, with Harvard’s John Holdren, former Obama science advisor, calling it a “horrifying big picture” of a “demolition of science infrastructure.”