Mass firings across National Weather Service, NOAA ignite fury among scientists worldwide
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As federal job eliminations strike the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Weather Service, scientists and environmental advocates are denouncing the cuts, saying they could cause real harm to Americans.
About 5% of NOAA employees stationed around the U.S. — approximately 650 staffers — received a termination email Thursday, according to White House and congressional officials. The cuts shrank teams across all facets of the climate-focused agency, from experts working on weather forecasting, ocean health, climate change, fisheries and developments in space and the atmosphere.
“People nationwide depend on NOAA for free, accurate forecasts, severe weather alerts, and emergency information,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote in a statement. “Purging the government of scientists, experts, and career civil servants and slashing fundamental programs will cost lives.”
NOAA — which includes the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Center and the Tsunami Warning Center — is the latest in a string of federal agencies targeted for cuts by the Trump administration. An administrative official, who spoke on background, said that the cuts at NOAA were part of “an extensive process ... conducted to ensure that mission-critical functions to fulfill the NOAA’s statutory responsibilities weren’t compromised,” noting that weather service meteorologists were largely spared.
However, there were at least some weather service employees included in the cuts, including in California, according to KQED.
Temperatures in much of SoCal will continue to rise Wednesday and Thursday, but officials say it doesn’t mean winter has passed. Cold, wet storms are forecast for the weekend and next week.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called the purge at NOAA a political decision hiding beneath the guise of improving government efficiency. He vowed to challenge what he called “illegal firings” in court.
A federal judge this week blocked several mass firings of probationary employees at federal agencies because they were probably carried out illegally. It wasn’t immediately clear how the NOAA terminations might be affected by that decision.
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.”
Tom Di Liberto, a longtime scientist and spokesperson for NOAA’s headquarters in Washington, was among those who received a termination email Thursday, along with at least six others in his office. Although he wasn’t surprised by the decision — having watched several other federal agencies deal with similar cuts — he said he was still extremely disappointed and feared for NOAA’s mission.
“This is not something you would do if you cared about the safety of Americans ... the health of the oceans,” Di Liberto said. He had worked at NOAA since 2010, first on contract for several years before being hired full-time in March 2023.
“We weren’t just hired — a lot of us were working with NOAA for a very long period,” he said. He also noted that his termination email cited that he was fired “because ... his ability, knowledge and/or skills do not fit the agency’s current needs” — though he said he had received glowing performance reviews. Di Liberto had provided insight to The Times about El Niño and La Niña and how the pattern could influence weather and climate in California.
Several other 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 the terminations at NOAA targeted employees still within their probationary period, which means they were among the most recent to be hired or promoted.
NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory 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, floods, extreme heat and dangerous fire weather.
Before the January firestorm that devastated parts of Los Angeles County, weather service officials had warned residents and local emergency responders about potentially life-threatening winds that could fuel extreme fire behavior. Forecasters remained a key part of the fire response, providing updates and planning assistance to the public, firefighters and other emergency officials.
“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-inflicted wound to the public safety of Americans and the resiliency of the American economy to weather and climate-related disasters.”
The call to dismantle the United States’ vital weather department has raised the hackles of experts who say NOAA provides not only important free data but also life-saving information.
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.”
Rick Spinrad, a former NOAA administrator, said he expects the cuts will have immediate effects, calling parts of NOAA already understaffed. He expects some departments will have to delay or limit the products and reports put out, affecting the public and many industries, including commercial shipping, fishing and agriculture.
“That erosion will undoubtedly start immediately,” Spinrad said. “If anything, the agency needs more highly qualified employees, not less.”
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 by 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 would 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.”
Downtown L.A. was about 14 degrees above normal Sunday, reaching 82 degrees. Temperatures could climb into the 90s by Wednesday in the coasts and valleys.
While NOAA’s most public-facing division is the National Weather Service, the agency also includes teams that manage fisheries, monitor rivers for potential flooding, track sea level rise and steward key satellites. It is the largest agency in the Department of Commerce, with a 2024 budget of $6.72 billion.
Project 2025, the conservative playbook for President Trump’s second term, called for NOAA to be dismantled, something that climate scientists had denounced for months.
“Our oceans have become political carnage,” Beth Lowell, the U.S. vice president of Oceana, a nonprofit that works to protect the world’s oceans, said in a statement. “We’re calling on Congress to save NOAA from these disastrous cuts, while also protecting American jobs, communities, and the oceans.”
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