Environment

But federal workers have said there could be “devastating” losses because of cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration (NOAA) that houses NWS. In February, weather balloon launches needed to collect data for forecasts were suspended in western Alaska after layoffs.

AI isn’t going to replace traditional forecasting anytime soon. But Google and other researchers are developing AI models to help produce more accurate forecasts.

”Freedom of speech is on the line,” says Waniya Locke, a member of Standing Rock Grassroots, told The Verge recently. “This directly impacts everybody, not just Standing Rock, not just Greenpeace.”

“This is a wrecking ball assault on the science that protects the air we breathe and the water we drink from toxic chemicals and pollution,” Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, former principal deputy assistant administrator at the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, said in a statement yesterday.

That includes the L.A. office of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The federal employee union representing EPA employees told The Verge last month that the Trump administration’s efforts to gut the agency could hamper wildfire recovery efforts in the region.

NASA contributes significantly to research on climate, weather, air quality, and the environment. Joe Biden appointed chief scientist Katherine Calvin, who was recently stopped from joining a meeting of the United Nations’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Science reports.

The office oversees payments for recovery efforts after major disasters, opening up questions about how North Carolina communities rebuilding after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene could be affected.

Across the federal government, Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are targeting programs and employees that have worked to make initiatives more inclusive of communities of color and other groups that face disproportionate health and environmental risks.