I don’t usually talk about politics in this blog, but as a former National Weather Service employee and as someone who uses weather and climate data from NOAA and the National Weather Service on a daily basis, I am appalled at the recent moves by the federal government to recklessly fire numerous employees in these agencies without evaluating what they do. I am worried about the consequences this will have on public safety from extremes of weather due to the cuts. Note that cuts to NOAA as well as other agencies like the US Geological Service, USDA Climate Hubs, FEMA, EPA, and the military will further weaken the nation’s response to extreme natural events in the future.
The NWS runs on a shoestring that costs the average US citizen just over 1 cent per person per day. This gives us access to service from dedicated employees that runs 24-7-365 even though in recent years they have been running very short-staffed. Now with the recent cuts to new and recently-promoted employees, many offices are running on skeleton crews and they have been unable to launch weather balloons and maintain radars because of the lack of personnel. The data that are being lost would normally feed into the weather forecasting models that provide both public forecasters and the private weather forecasting industry with the maps and data they need to provide both regular forecasts and severe weather coverage as we go into the season with the most severe weather, including tonight’s storms in Alabama and the Southeast. It could also affect operations of mesonets like the University of Georgia Weather Network since a significant portion of their operating funds are provided by NOAA to supplement the NWS’s severe weather monitoring and post-storm analyses.
Weather and climate affect every person in the country and an inability to get the most accurate forecasts will reduce crop yields, diminish our ability to manage water supplies, and endanger people across the country who live in areas affected by tornadoes, atmospheric rivers, blizzards, hurricanes, and flash floods. Here are a few articles and essays that have been written about the impacts these cuts are likely to cause. There are many more available but they are often paywalled so I am not linking them here, but you can search online to find more. There are also many stories on Facebook and other social media from federal employees from the National Park Service, NOAA, USGS, and other agencies describing what they did and what the loss is to our country when they are forced out.
NOAA firings raise concerns over agency’s ability to forecast hurricanes and more
Cuts to NOAA could endanger American lives and economy
Meteorologists and weather industry say breaking up NOAA would have catastrophic effects
NOAA firings hit the birthplace of weather and climate forecasting
NOAA layoffs threaten weather, climate forecasts
The Dangerous Trump Purge of Weather and Climate Expertise Begins
