Staff cuts have impacted work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Kristoffer Tripplaar / Alamy
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says it will “stop” monthly calls to update reporters on seasonal weather forecasts and global climate conditions.
A NOAA spokesman says recent cuts, resignation and resignation under President Donald Trump's control have led to staffing issues that have led to agents “no longer able to support them.” But they say every month Report It will be edited and continued to be published by the National Center for Environmental Information, operated by NOAA.
He says another reason the agency is closing calls could be due to fear of employees violating the new administration by talking about climate change. Tom Di RivatoNOAA's genius scientist and public relations specialist who was fired during widespread cuts in February. “They don't want to get stuck between telling the truth and then riding on the wrong side of a political appointee,” he says.
During the monthly call, NOAA scientists will provide you with updates on a variety of predictions and measurements the agency has created. In addition to information on global land and ocean temperatures, the description includes information on seasonal weather forecasts and droughts in the United States. These calls also give reporters the opportunity to ask questions to help them better understand new information.
In past briefings, researchers openly discussed the role of human-induced climate change in driving at record high temperatures. But last month's call – first held under the new administration – NOAA researchers declined to mention climate change when discussing record global temperatures in January. The call ended later New Scientist We asked the researchers directly to see what role climate change played at high temperatures.
Di Liberto says the agency has not explicitly directed researchers, let alone climate change. However, he knows from his current contact with staff there is an atmosphere of fear about saying the wrong thing.
“It's a fear of being cut, but I'm also afraid that the work they're doing is trying to help people, or that they're being told they can't say what they can say based on science,” he says.
Since January, the administration has fired almost 1,000 people from government agencies, and hundreds more have resigned. The government is It reportedly plans to cut more than 1,000 employeesone-tenth of the agency's workforce.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
