As federal job eliminations struck the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service on Thursday, scientists and environmental advocates denounced the cuts, saying they could cause real harm to Americans.
The full extent of the layoffs across NOAA were not immediately clear, but Democratic legislators said hundreds of scientists and experts had been notified of terminated employment. NOAA — which includes the National Hurricane Center and the Tsunami Warning Center — is the latest in a string of federal agencies targeted for cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“Musk’s sham mission is bringing vital programs to a screeching halt,” U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote in a statement Thursday. “People nationwide depend on NOAA for free, accurate forecasts, severe weather alerts, and emergency information. Purging the government of scientists, experts, and career civil servants and slashing fundamental programs will cost lives.”
Susan Buchanan, a spokesperson for NOAA, declined to comment on the cuts, saying in a statement that the agency would not be discussing personnel matters, “per long-standing practice.”
“NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience,” Buchanan said. “We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission.”
Several people who identified themselves as NOAA or weather service employees wrote on social media that they, or family members, had received an email Thursday notifying them that they had been terminated. It appeared that many were considered probationary employees, meaning they were recently hired or promoted.
NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Labratory posted on X that it would be ending its public communication services “due to a reduction in staff.” It wasn’t immediately clear how other operations might suffer, but scientists across the globe worried there could be dangerous effects. NOAA agencies provide key alerts and forecasts during weather emergencies and monitor for extreme events, such as hurricanes, tsunamis and dangerous fire weather.
“The fact of the matter is that the private sector, as it presently exists, simply cannot quickly spin up to fill any void left by substantial dismantling of NOAA and/or the NWS,” Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist said in a statement on social media. “The now-confirmed and rumored additional cuts to come at NOAA/NWS are spectacularly short-sighted, and ultimately will deal a major self-inflected wound to the public safety of Americans and the resiliency of the American economy to weather and climate-related disasters.”
It’s unclear the exact nature of the NOAA firings, but they are likely to be subject to a legal review. A federal judge just on Thursday blocked several mass firings of probationary employees at federal agencies because they were probably carried out illegally.
But the mass exodus of NOAA employees shocked environmental advocates and scientists across the globe, particularly those focused on the climate, environment and meteorology.
“Gutting NOAA will hamstring essential lifesaving programs that forecast storms, ensure ocean safety and prevent the extinction of whales and sea otters,” said Miyoko Sakashita, the oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental nonprofit that works to protect wildlife. “I think most Americans want these kinds of vital government services protected, and we’ll do everything we can to defend them.”
Juan Declet-Barreto, a senior social scientist for climate vulnerability at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a member-supported group of scientists, called the move from the Trump administration reckless for both the safety of communities and the future of climate science.
“Decimating the nation’s core scientific enterprise, even as costly and deadly climate change impacts and extreme weather events worsen, flies in the face of logic, common sense and fiscal responsibility,” Declet-Barreto said. “NOAA’s data and science are used routinely by weather forecasters, mariners, farmers, emergency responders, businesses and everyday people across the country. Everyone in the United States relies on NOAA in their daily lives whether they realize it or not, something that will come into focus for many in the weeks and months ahead.”
Jeff Watters, the vice president of external affairs for the Ocean Conservancy, a national nonprofit focused on improving the health of the sea, said the cuts to NOAA will hurt the ocean.
“The indiscriminate firing of employees is going to sabotage NOAA’s ability to do essential work that every single American relies on,” Watters said in a statement. “NOAA is the eyes and ears for our water and air — the agency tracks our weather and climate; monitors tides and surf forecasts; allows for the safe deployment and navigation of satellites, ships, and doppler radar. It acts as a first responder with its weather and hurricane emergency alerts; its tsunami warning centers; its oil spill response capabilities; its marine mammal stranding network; and its harmful algal blooms early warning systems. NOAA even keeps seafood on the table. Americans depend on NOAA each and every day, and so does the health of the ocean.”
