title: Why Dismantling the National Climate Assessment Defies Bipartisan Public Will metaTitle: Why Dismantling the National Climate Assessment Defies Bipartisan Public Will ogTitle: Why Dismantling the National Climate Assessment Defies Bipartisan Public Will metaDescription: Dismantling the National Climate Assessment and restricting climate research directly contradicts bipartisan public support for transparent federal environmental data.
Why Dismantling the National Climate Assessment Defies Bipartisan Public Will
Climate research and the federal assessment process
The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is a periodic report produced through the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), a federal program established by Congress to coordinate research on global environmental change. [sourceRef: USGCRP, “About the U.S. Global Change Research Program,” https://www.globalchange.gov/about]
The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) was released in November 2023. It summarizes observed and projected climate-related changes and risks across the United States, with chapters addressing regions and sectors including agriculture, infrastructure, and coastal effects. [sourceRef: USGCRP, “Fifth National Climate Assessment,” https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/]
The administration’s actions affecting federal climate research and assessment should be distinguished from proposed budget changes. In 2025, the administration directed agencies to terminate or end support for certain climate-related programs and activities, including work associated with the next assessment; the scope and implementation of these directions are matters of agency action, not evidence that NCA5 has been withdrawn. [sourceRef: Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” January 20, 2025, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-01956/unleashing-american-energy; USGCRP, “Fifth National Climate Assessment,” https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/]
Budget requests are proposals unless Congress enacts them. The administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget request proposed reductions to NOAA, including its Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR); a request alone does not establish that any proposed reductions were enacted. [sourceRef: Congressional Research Service, “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): FY2026 Budget Request,” https://crsreports.congress.gov/]
What polling says—and does not say
A Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication survey reported that 79% of registered voters supported government agencies continuing to research and publicly share information about global warming. The result refers to registered voters surveyed in the organizations’ Fall 2024 survey, and to the specific research-and-sharing question; it should not be read as evidence of consensus on every climate policy or as proof of uniform support across political parties. [sourceRef: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, “Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2024,” survey report and questionnaire, https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-politics-policy-fall-2024/]
The survey provides a measure of respondents’ views at the time it was conducted. It does not, by itself, establish how particular funding or agency decisions affect local preparedness. [sourceRef: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, “Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Fall 2024,” https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/climate-change-in-the-american-mind-politics-policy-fall-2024/]
NOAA research and Mauna Loa measurements
NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research conducts and supports research on the atmosphere and oceans. Its programs include NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory (GML), which measures greenhouse gases and other atmospheric constituents. [sourceRef: NOAA OAR, “About,” https://oceanic.noaa.gov/about/; NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “About,” https://gml.noaa.gov/about/]
NOAA’s GML operates atmospheric monitoring at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. The observatory’s carbon dioxide record began in 1958 and forms the basis of the Keeling Curve, a long-running record of atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. [sourceRef: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Mauna Loa Observatory,” https://gml.noaa.gov/obop/mlo/; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, “The Keeling Curve,” https://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/]
A proposed NOAA or OAR budget reduction should not be described as closure of Mauna Loa Observatory or termination of its measurements without evidence that such an action occurred. NOAA’s published program information identifies Mauna Loa as a GML monitoring site. [sourceRef: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Mauna Loa Observatory,” https://gml.noaa.gov/obop/mlo/]
Why assessments and monitoring matter
NCA5 compiles evidence on climate-related conditions and risks, including regional and sector-specific material that can inform public understanding and planning. The report itself describes observed changes and projected risks; its publication does not establish that every local government or business relies on it for a particular decision. [sourceRef: USGCRP, “Fifth National Climate Assessment,” https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/]
Federal climate assessments and sustained observations are distinct activities: assessments synthesize evidence, while monitoring programs collect measurements over time. Maintaining clarity about what has been proposed, enacted, or implemented is essential when evaluating the future availability of either. [sourceRef: USGCRP, “About the U.S. Global Change Research Program,” https://www.globalchange.gov/about; NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “About,” https://gml.noaa.gov/about/]
For now, the available evidence supports a narrower conclusion than claims that the entire federal climate assessment system has been dismantled: NCA5 was published in 2023, subsequent administration actions and budget proposals have targeted climate-related work, and NOAA’s Mauna Loa monitoring program is documented as an operating component of GML. The effects of particular proposed cuts should be assessed against enacted appropriations and agency implementation. [sourceRef: USGCRP, “Fifth National Climate Assessment,” https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/; Executive Order 14154, January 20, 2025, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-01956/unleashing-american-energy; NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, “Mauna Loa Observatory,” https://gml.noaa.gov/obop/mlo/]
