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The Trump administration has dismissed all the scientists and other authors working on the next authoritative look at how climate change is affecting the United States, according to an email sent to authors Monday and confirmed by CNN. The move will allow the administration to either skip the congressionally mandated report altogether, or pursue an alternative, potentially far more skeptical take on what is otherwise widely accepted climate science. The latter would fly in the face of the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing to the threats global warming poses to the US.
The last National Climate Assessment came out in 2023 . It found that climate change is already transforming every region of the country, with more frequent and intense extreme weather events and a slew of other costly and harmful effects. During the first Trump administration, the Fourth Assessment came out after being worked on mainly under the Obama White House.
Trump officials sought to deep-six the findings by publishing it the day after Thanksgiving. Congress mandated these reports — conducted by a mix of federal and outside scientists under the US Global Change Research Program — be produced every four years. The next is due by 2027.
Before the dismissal of about 400 authors slated to work on the next iteration, NASA had already canceled a key contract with the consulting firm ICF to support the US Global Change Research Program, which produces the reports. This was an early indication of trouble in the assessment process. Climate scientists told CNN the reports are uniquely valuable for officials at the regional, state and local levels, and expressed concern over the potential for an alternative report featuring fringe scientific views.
“Losing this report makes us less prepared for extreme weather, wildfire, sea level rise and other important changes we face on a warming planet,” said Dustin Mulvaney, a professor at San Jose State University who was slated to be a contributing author to the sixth assessment report. Meade Krosby, a climate scientist at the University of Washington, told CNN the reports are “A crucial resource for communities, local and state governments, and businesses asking how climate change is affecting the things they care about now and into the future, and what can be done to reduce risks.” She said the reports’ credibility, as products of every federal agency that works on climate change, plus outside experts, give it valuable credibility.
“What’s at risk with this dismissal is not only the report itself, but its credibility if it moves forward without the experts that ensure its scientific integrity,” she said. “Its loss or potential adulteration, if completed, would have real impact on the ability of our communities to understand and prepare for climate risks,” Krosby said. “It’s Congressionally mandated for a reason.
” There is more than just the assessment process that may be modified, though, as the website for the Global Change Research Program states: “The operations and structure of the USGCRP are currently under review.”.
