Editorial: Devastating NOAA cuts must be fully reversed immediately

Along with nearly everyone in the atmospheric science community, I am gravely concerned that significant budget cuts and layoffs at NOAA will lead to irreparable harm to the United States. If upheld, these cuts will degrade the quality of weather data and forecasts in the US relative to other nations and cause greater death and damages from weather and climate disasters. 

I fully stand by the statement released by the American Meteorological Society and encourage my readers to spread the word among their friends, family, and elected officials that we must not allow these cuts to stand. 

Our increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change means that we should be increasing budgets and adding jobs to prepare for and respond to these threats. 

NOAA does not need massive reform

The ROI of NOAA’s research, products, and forecasts easily justifies the cost to taxpayers. 

Retooling or changing of priorities could be accomplished by targeted initiatives. Suggestions that certain initiatives need reform, such as numerical weather prediction, are irrelevant to the current concerns. Recent rounds of layoffs have been applied without discretion. Future cuts will surely be applied to accomplish political, not scientific objectives.

More climate research and funding is needed, not less

Ignoring and censoring climate change research will neither stop the climate from warming nor postpone the devastating impacts of climate change on the planet. The societal impacts of climate change will be far worse in upcoming years if efforts to research and prepare for the impacts of climate change are suspended and/or censored. 

DEI efforts must be continued 

Systematic biases remain prevalent in our society, resulting in denied opportunities to qualified individuals from underrepresented groups. Failure to identify and rectify discrimination reduces the ROI that taxpayers expect from government funded work.

While it is reasonable to question the efficacy of existing DEI programs, it is not acceptable to erase these initiatives entirely.

Concluding call for action

We can not allow for the rapid dismantling of the US public weather and climate sectors. Everyone must do their part to push back fully against these changes. Compromises are not acceptable as long as unqualified individuals are in charge of the cuts and reforms and the motivation for said cuts is purely political.

If we do not push back, there will be additional rounds of cuts to NOAA, NASA, and other critical government agencies. 

Find your congressional representative here.