## Your Phone Isn’t the Only Thing They’re Trying to Hack: Climate Science Is Under Attack
We live in a world obsessed with tech, where data breaches and cybersecurity threats seem like the stuff of daily headlines. But did you know that the very foundation of our understanding of climate change – climate science itself – is being targeted?
A chilling new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, titled “Dear Climate Movement: They’ve Come for Our Climate Science. We Have to Stop Them,” sounds the alarm on a disturbing trend: a deliberate and coordinated effort to undermine the integrity of climate science. This isn’t just some abstract academic debate; the stakes are real, and the consequences for our planet are dire.
The Destruction of Research Institutes and Centers
According to news reports, the planned cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are not the equivalent of trimming but of sawing a whole tree down to the ground. Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) is at risk of elimination, a move that would gut NOAA’s ability to pursue climate change research itself and to support, as it currently does, countless research efforts across the US and around the world.
As my colleague, Marc Alessi, summarizes in his blog, the leaked memo “proposes closing all 16 Cooperative Research Institutes in 33 states, every one of the 10 research labs, all 6 regional climate centers, slashing the budget for the NASA Goddard Space Institute, and ending $70 million in grants to research universities.”
The Consequences of Climate Science Cuts: A Global Perspective
The entire global climate science community relies on NOAA scientific expertise and the science it produces. A passing anti-science administration, hell-bent on destruction across our federal government, has no right to make these legacy scientific resources disappear. They belong to us. NOAA belongs to the millions of people warned and kept safe by our National Weather Service, to the thousands of scientists who rely on its data, and to the countless policymakers who make informed decisions with its insights.
The Loss of Funding for Scientists and Universities
Thousands of seasoned scientists, early career scientists, and young scientists in graduate schools will lose funding. This destruction is underway. As of this writing, the rich online resources of three of the Regional Climate Centers have already been taken down.
Also requested in February and presumably being finalized now are plans for “large-scale reductions in force (RIFs)”. Those firings of federal employees would come on top of the hundreds of NOAA staff who were fired last week—for the second time, this time permanently.
The Reliance on NOAA Scientific Expertise and Research
Climate science tracks and unpacks the dangerous trends that will harm people’s lives and livelihoods, and already are. It shows, for example, that both the strength and rapid intensification of hurricanes are increasing, that the intensity and duration of drought and extreme precipitation are increasing, that sea level rise and coastal flooding are increasing, and that wildfires are increasing in frequency and size.
The Need to Act
The Urgency of the Situation: Why We Must Stop the Cuts
If we look back just a handful of months, from Hurricane Helene to the L.A. wildfires, the devastation our changing climate is causing in people’s lives is clear. The proposed cuts would ravage our ability to understand and meet these evolving threats.
The Role of the Climate Movement: What We Can Do
Raising awareness and building public support is crucial in this fight. We need to make sure that the public is informed about the importance of climate science and the devastating consequences of these cuts. We need to advocate for climate science and climate action, and we need to do it now.
We must also hold our elected officials accountable for their actions. We must demand that they prioritize the well-being of our planet and the people who call it home. We must demand that they protect the research and scientists that are crucial to our understanding of the climate crisis.
As a society, we have a moral obligation to act. We have a responsibility to protect the planet and all its inhabitants. We must stop the destruction of climate science and the scientists who are working tirelessly to combat the climate crisis.
Conclusion
In “Dear Climate Movement: They’ve Come for Our Climate Science. We Have to Stop Them,” the authors sound the alarm on the alarming attacks on climate science and its practitioners. The article highlights the increasing threats to climate research, from disinformation campaigns to political interference, and the devastating consequences for our planet. The authors argue that these attacks are not just an assault on science, but on our collective future, as they undermine our ability to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.
The significance of this topic cannot be overstated. The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and the scientific community’s ability to provide accurate and unbiased information is crucial to developing effective solutions. As the authors starkly put it, “the science is not negotiable.” The implications of these attacks are far-reaching, threatening not only our climate progress but also our democracy and our very way of life. If we fail to protect climate science, we risk emboldening those who would distort the truth for their own gain, with devastating consequences.
As we move forward, it is imperative that we recognize the importance of climate science and the scientists who dedicate their lives to understanding and addressing this crisis. We must stand in solidarity with climate scientists, support their work, and push back against those who seek to undermine it. The future of our planet depends on it. As the authors conclude, “we must not let the forces of disinformation and political manipulation silence the voices of science. We must amplify them, and we must act. The clock is ticking, and the fate of our planet hangs in the balance.”
