The Trump administration has discharged a group of scientists and researchers working on the federal government’s evaluation of the impact of climate change, citing the need to re-evaluate its approach to the project. [emphasis, links added]
The move to dismiss the participants in the report, called the National Climate Assessment, raises doubts about the future of the review, which has been required by Congress for more than three decades, climate scientists and environmental groups said Tuesday.
Researchers involved with the 6th National Climate Assessment received an email Monday stating:
“At this time, the scope of the NCA6 is currently being reevaluated in accordance with the Global Change Research Act of 1990. We are now releasing all current assessment participants from their roles.”
“As plans develop for the assessment, there may be future opportunities to contribute or engage. Thank you for your service.”
The White House didn’t immediately comment on the decision, which was reported earlier by the New York Times.
🚨 NEW: The National Climate Assessment isn’t science… It’s sales.
Written by its own beneficiaries, funded by fear, and wrong again and again.
Good riddance.
The National Climate Assessment: Science or Sales Pitch?
Read it now 👇 https://t.co/E2wQah0GcV— Dr. Matthew M. Wielicki (@MatthewWielicki) April 30, 2025
The notice effectively halts work on the report, which began in 2024 and was set to be published in late 2027 or early 2028.
Produced every four years, the National Climate Assessment is considered an authoritative document on climate change used by stakeholders and policymakers.
“The implications are that it’s a functional disbanding of the assessment and the process and the work,” said Jesse Keenan, an associate professor at Tulane University and one of the assessment’s authors. “This is a termination.”
The decision on Monday affected hundreds of researchers, scientists, and experts who were contributing to the report, according to the authors.
The most recent version, released in November 2023, found that extreme weather events cost the U.S. economy nearly $150 billion each year and disproportionately hurt poor and disadvantaged communities.
Read rest at WSJ
