‘Appalled & saddened’: NOAA staff fearing staff & budget cuts: ‘The climate crisis knows no boundaries’ – Staff are ‘disturbed & terrified’

NOAA Imposes Restrictions on Scientists, Raising Concerns Over Global Forecasting

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has placed new restrictions on scientists that those inside the agency have said could hamper the availability and quality of global weather forecasts.

Current and former high-level scientists with the federal agency said the new rules have created unease and caused alarm with partners at European agencies, reported The Guardian.

“My expectation is that it’s going to be a crackdown on climate,” said a senior NOAA scientist who wished to remain anonymous. “People are just somewhere between disturbed and terrified.”

 

The new NOAA restrictions, as communicated in a staff-wide message last week, said agency headquarters would implement further oversight over emails and “virtual meetings” of scientists with foreign nationals.

The new rules also require that all employees and NOAA affiliates must document “all international engagements” for approval on a case-by-case basis.

“[I]t’s a crazy amount of stuff to do. Working internationally is so routine, it’s just hardly thought of,” the scientist said. “It’s a difficult time to be a federal employee right now.”

The extra administrative burden looked to be especially taxing for the National Weather Service (NWS), which provides free weather forecasting to the public.

A climate scientist with the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, who also preferred not to be named, said last week’s news “appalled and saddened” him, reported The Guardian.

“The climate crisis knows no boundaries, and halting international scientific collaboration can only undermine our ability to understand and combat it,” the scientist said.

NOAA staff are preparing for more staffing and budgetary cuts that would put extra strain on the agency.