America's Weather Service Is Being Shut Down. What Happens When the Next Deadly Storm Hits?
Some of the Trump Administration's most aggressive cuts have reduced staffing at NASA and the National Weather Service. NWS lost hundreds of employees and is struggling to keep radars operational and launch balloons on schedule. NASA may close Goddard Space Center, which operates satellites that observe the Earth.
Several local weather offices no longer have overnight shifts. This includes offices in Kentucky and Missouri where deadly tornadoes recently killed 26 people, and in California's Central Valley where billions of dollars worth of crops depend on timely forecasts. A popular TV weatherman in Florida warned viewers that he cannot predict hurricane paths because of the budget cuts.
NWS and NASA are two of the most popular federal agencies. Farmers, pilots, and countless other Americans depend on weather forecasts for their lives and livelihoods. NWS costs each American just $4 per year.
The Administration's goal is to privatize and commercialize weather forecasting and space launches, and to shut down research about climate change. But because of these cuts, natural disasters will kill more people and destroy more businesses. Air travel will be less safe. Food will become more expensive. There is no practical way for private companies to replace NWS or NASA, and pretending that climate change isn't happening won't stop hurricanes or tornadoes.
Congress can restore the National Weather Service and NASA budgets and restore our critical weather and climate science systems at any time.
What can you do? Contact your representatives and tell them you want full funding restored for weather and earth science. https://5calls.org makes it easy. And if you belong to a frequent flier or hotel rewards program, contact those companies and ask them to demand that Congress restore forecasting resources to keep air travel safe.
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