CNN: Trump's budget plan eviscerates weather and climate research, and it could be enacted immediately

[Dennis Donovan]

CNN - Trump’s budget plan eviscerates weather and climate research, and it could be enacted immediately

By Ella Nilsen
Updated Apr 11, 2025, 3:33 PM ET
PUBLISHED Apr 11, 2025, 12:35 PM ET

The Trump administration intends to eliminate the research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, close all weather and climate labs and eviscerate its budget along with several other NOAA offices, according to internal documents obtained by CNN.

The documents describe the administration’s budget proposal for 2026, but indicate the administration expects the agency to enact the changes immediately.

The cuts would devastate weather and climate research as weather is becoming more erratic, extreme and costly. It would cripple the US industries — including agriculture — that depend on free, accurate weather and climate data and expert analysis. It could also halt research on deadly weather, including severe storms and tornadoes.

The administration intends to make significant cuts to education, grants, research and climate-related programs in NOAA, the plan says, which the administration believes “are misaligned with the … expressed will of the American people.”

While the phrase “climate change” refers to the manmade influence on the global climate system via planet-warming fossil fuel pollution, “climate” in NOAA parlance is simply the weather that has been observed over time.

CNN has reached out to the White House and the Department of Commerce, which houses NOAA, for comment on the plan.

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[Botany]

1. Got to stop NOAA's Climate Observatory on Mauna Loa from doing its research and collecting data.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Mauna_Loa_CO2_monthly_mean_concentration.svg



Krasnov promised the fossil fuel industries that he would stop “all that climate stuff” if they
gave him a billion and supported him in the election.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. NPR: Major budget cuts proposed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NPR - Major budget cuts proposed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

April 11, 20254:52 PM ET
By Alejandra Borunda

/snip/

The agency's budget for 2026 would be slashed by more than 25% overall from its current level of roughly $6 billion under the proposal, which would need to be approved by Congress. The draft cuts to NOAA's research operations and fisheries services are particularly severe.

If enacted, the cuts would "take us back to the 1950s in terms of our scientific footing and the American people," says Craig McLean, a former director of NOAA's office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the agency's research arm, whose career spanned multiple administrations.

The budget aims to eliminate OAR, cutting the budget by close to 75% from previous levels and slashing all funding for research that focuses on climate and weather. A few groups from the office, like a team that works on tornado science, would be moved to other parts of the organization. The budget would also end funding for the many cooperative research centers scattered across the country that contribute to climate and weather research. The proposed budget comes as the administration has already fired hundreds of NOAA employees.

It also proposes slashing the operations and personnel budget of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which manages the country's ocean fisheries, by nearly 30%, and moving the rest of the office into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — another agency entirely. It also asks for the Fisheries Service staff still with the agency to prioritize ways within its purview to "unleash American energy."

The proposal also aims to slim down NOAA's investment in some of its premier satellite technology, called geostationary satellites, by 44% compared to current levels. The agency currently has five in orbit, which provide much of the data critical for weather forecasts, as well as weather and climate research and coastal security. The agency was in the process of developing the next generation of its satellites, which would have included several new instruments; the next was scheduled to go into orbit in 2032. The cuts to the program will jeopardize that plan and hamper the progression of key science, according to NOAA officials familiar with the program who were not authorized to speak publicly.

/snip