A prominent US government site that is home to the National Climate Assessment was suddenly pulled offline, depriving scientists, city planners, teachers, and regular citizens of access to one of the nation’s most important repositories of climate information. The portal, which featured interactive tools, maps, and locally tailored data, was a central clearinghouse for learning about how climate change impacts every region of the United States.
The website went black on Monday, and there has been no official word from the White House or applicable federal agencies. The National Climate Assessment, mandated by federal law every four years, provides comprehensive data utilized by farmers, educators, physicians, and judges in making knowledgeable wildfire defense, infrastructure vulnerability, and urban planning decisions.
Experts Alarmed as National Climate Assessment Website Disappears
Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, a contributor to the report for many years, was very concerned about the shutdown of the site. “If you’re a human being in America, your life is already affected by climate change, whether you realize it or not,” she said. “The National Climate Assessment was one of the main bridges that connected those dots.”
The latest version of the report, released in 2023, described how climate change presents grave dangers to U.S. communities—dangers that cost money, kill people, and are growing more so every day. The Trump administration shelved work on the 2027 version earlier this year by reshuffling the project team and canceling contracts with third-party companies assigned to the task.
Archived Versions Hard to Access
Even though there are some archived versions of the reports available, they are difficult to use. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) carries a simplified version of the 2023 report, but it does not have interactive features and tools. The former interactive climate atlas, a separate resource in its time, continues to be available through the mapping company Esri, but very few people are aware of where it is located.
NASA also stated it intends to host the National Climate Assessment reports in the future, but did not give a timeline. Searches on the NASA website now produce no applicable results, and both NOAA and NASA have refused to comment on the matter when contacted by the media.
Wider Rollback of Public Climate Tools
This shutdown is part of a broader public-facing climate resource rollback. NOAA recently redirected its climate.gov website without warning, and NASA and NOAA quietly removed several public outreach accounts from social media platforms.
“Evidence of a serious manipulation of the facts and of people’s ability to access information,” said Kathy Jacobs, a University of Arizona scientist who helped coordinate the 2014 assessment. “A sad day for America if it turns out the National Climate Assessment is no longer available.”
Former White House science advisor John Holdren deplored the move as “an appalling whole destruction of science infrastructure.
Jacobs seconded the view, cautioning: “Censoring science by hiding the reports is people can’t protect themselves if they don’t know what’s coming.”