In a significant move to restore public access to crucial climate data, a team of dedicated volunteers has revived the essence of the once-defunct climate.gov website. This initiative comes after its closure under the Trump administration, which many former NOAA staffers criticized as a deliberate suppression of climate information.
After the abrupt shutdown of climate.gov, described by its former program manager as a “deliberate, targeted attack,” the site’s revival has been orchestrated by a group of about 80 volunteer scientists and former NOAA employees. These individuals have launched climate.us, a nonprofit platform that aims to fill the gap left by the original site, offering comprehensive climate data and educational resources.
Supported by over $321,000 in crowdfunding and significant backing from an anonymous donor, climate.us has reintroduced the vital climate “dashboard.” This feature showcases various environmental metrics, from arctic sea ice levels to greenhouse gas emissions, and even solar radiation fluctuations. The platform has also restored the government resource’s 15-year archive of climate news, expert blogs, maps, and educational materials.
Rebecca Lindsey, the former managing director of climate.gov and now director of climate.us, emphasized, “Trusted climate information should not disappear when politics change.” She further asserted, “Climate.us is building an independent, durable platform so people can continue to find the data and information they need to understand and talk about climate, and to teach, report, plan, prepare, and make informed decisions.”
Brain Drain, Brain Gain
The revival of climate data access has been buoyed by expertise from former NOAA staffers who were victims of the previous administration’s cost-cutting measures. This brain drain, a consequence of the DOGE initiative by Elon Musk, has inadvertently created a pool of seasoned professionals now contributing to the nonprofit sector.
Geochemist Gretchen Gehrke, co-founder of the nonprofit Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, shared with NPR, “[Now] we have a lot of expertise outside of the government because of so much brain drain from the government, and we can really stand up things.” She regards climate.us as a testament to this shift.
Despite the success, Gehrke expressed concerns about the continuity of data collection, noting the challenges posed by the “quiet discontinuation” of some critical data under the previous administration. “We are still not in a position to know what data is even being collected,” she remarked.
A Declaration of Independence
The return of a platform akin to climate.gov is met with relief by many researchers and educators. Texas Tech atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe commended the initiative in a testimonial on climate.us, pointing to the importance of public education as a catalyst for climate action.
Hayhoe stated, “For years, Climate.gov was where I sent people for accurate, trustworthy answers about climate, from what El Niño means for their region to how extreme heat is changing where they live. Every article made complex science accessible and transparent. Climate.us doesn’t just carry that forward—it raises the bar.”
Financially independent from government influence, climate.us draws approximately one third of its funding from over 2,500 small donations, allowing it to operate without constraints from political agendas. Lindsey affirmed that the site will remain true to climate.gov’s original mission of disseminating unbiased scientific information, without advocating for specific climate actions. “The best solutions to our climate challenges are going to come from a climate literate public,” Lindsey told the New York Times.
Original Story at gizmodo.com