The Trump administration has re-fired hundreds of probationary workers at NOAA after a court ruling cleared the way.
The administration first terminated more than 800 NOAA workers in February, but the workers were reinstated after a federal court blocked the move in March. On Wednesday, an appeals court overturned the ruling, and on Thursday, officials told the NOAA workers they were being fired once again.
“The Department is reverting your termination action to its original effective date,” said the letter sent to employees, Reuters reports. Among those fired were specialists working to track El Niño and La Niña, understand the risks from severe storms, and forecast the future impact of climate change, The Guardian reports.
Also this week, the Trump administration cut $4 million in funding for climate research at Princeton University, which was working with NOAA to improve climate modeling. The administration said the research promoted “implausible climate threats, contributing to a phenomenon known as ‘climate anxiety,’ which has increased significantly among America’s youth.”
On Friday, NOAA forecasters declared an end to La Niña, which has had a cooling influence globally. With La Niña over, and unusually warm waters circulating in the Atlantic, the U.S. appears to be headed for a particularly busy hurricane season.
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