WASHINGTON — One of many federal agencies facing cuts by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In states like Virginia with plenty of extreme weather events, scientists said the cuts would threaten people’s safety.
NOAA employees are bracing for expected layoffs of up to 20%, or more than 1,000 jobs. Among other roles, NOAA’s National Weather Service provides data used by most weather forecasters, including for warnings and advisories.
Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist and vice president of engagement for Climate Central, explained the NOAA’s importance.
“Because of NOAA data, we know when to evacuate ahead of storms, fires,” Woods Placky emphasized. “We know when not to evacuate, which is also really critical, because that saves a lot of money and a lot of time.”
Virginia experiences a variety of big weather events each year, from tornadoes to tropical storm systems. Just last year, two people died from Hurricane Helene’s impact on the southeastern part of the Commonwealth.
NOAA’s climate and storm data dates back to 1950 and goes beyond U.S. borders. Woods Placky pointed out unstable governments can interrupt data gathering.
“When you get that gap in the data, it invalidates the long-term datasets,” Woods Placky noted. “You can’t carry it with the same weight to tease out longer-term trends, to keep people safe and prepared on longer-term shifts that we’re seeing.”
She added global groups also use NOAA’s data, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the United Nations.
Some argued services NOAA offers could be privatized.
David Dickson with Covering Climate Now said it shows a misunderstanding.
“To argue against NOAA not being useful because we have private companies offering weather apps would be to argue against farmers because we have grocery stores,” Dickson contended. “It really does fund the invisible backbone of virtually everything we consume.”
The Commonwealth averages more than $2.5 billion in climate and weather disaster events each year.
