In a move that feels more like political sabotage than sound policy, the Trump administration has once again undermined climate science by forcing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to stop updating its essential database of billion-dollar weather and climate disasters.
The decision is another calculated step in the administration’s asssault on climate science and the federal agencies tasked with confronting the crisis.
For over five decades, NOAA’s database has been the go-to source for measuring the staggering human and economic toll of extreme weather in the United States. Hurricanes, wildfires, drought – events that are becoming more frequent and costly – were tracked meticulously, using data to which no one else had access. Scientists, journalists, policymakers, and the public all relied on this dataset to understand the rising costs of a warming planet.
And now, it’s being shut down. The data will sit archived, effectively frozen in time, as the disasters it once tracked continue to escalate in real life.
The timing could hardly be worse.
The past five years have seen an explosion in billion-dollar disasters, averaging nearly triple the historical norm. But rather than double down on transparency and science, the Trump administration seems more interested in turning off the lights, firing NOAA staff, and telling citizens the problem doesn’t exist.
Cutting this database doesn’t just hamper scientific research; it suppresses any conversation about what climate change is already costing us – economically, environmentally, and socially. And that seems to be the point. This is about optics, not facts. If the data isn’t there, maybe the disasters don’t exist.
Fortunately, within our .earth tribe, there are several .earth organizations who are addressing weather tracking:
- Zoom.Earth: This organization created an interactive weather map that tracks the development of hurricanes and storms and monitors wildfires and smoke. Learn more here.
- Tempest.Earth: Tempest Weather System is the ultimate tool for managing a smart home, garden and all weather-driven decisions. Learn more here.
Does your organization track weather? The .earth web domain is ideal for enhancing your brands and communicating your mission of creating a safer planet through platforms for social and environmental activism.
To help you accomplish this, the .earth web domain and its registrar partners are offering special pricing for one-year registrations of standard .earth domain names starting at under $10.00 USD – from April 22, 2025 to June 30, 2025
To learn more about the .earth domain, visit Voices.Earth. In addition, many organizations and individuals are sharing their voices about the benefits of a .earth domain in our Voices.Earth podcast series.
