Climate Data Silenced As Administration Targets Science Agencies
The Billion Dollar Disasters database, dropped by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) earlier this year, has found a new home at Climate Central.
Shortly after returning to the presidency in January, the Trump Administration used budget cuts as an excuse to stop compiling and storing information on climate change, in keeping with Trump’s commitment to deny the existence of climate change. In May, NOAA dropped one of its high-profile databases, the Billion Dollar Disasters database.
The Cost of Denial: Climate Disasters are Skyrocketing
This database shows that these expensive disasters, at least a billion dollars’ worth of losses associated with a single weather event, have greatly increased in frequency. They’ve risen from an average of about three a year during the 1980s to about 19 a year over the past decade. There have already been 14 from January to June of this year, totaling over $101 billion in damages. These include the Los Angeles wildfires in January, which added up to $60 billion and is rated as the costliest in U.S. history.
Key Climate Dataset Revived to Inform Research and Public Policy
The non-profit climate research and education organization Climate Central announced in October that this database was again up and running, hosted and maintained by its team. “The return of the Billion-Dollar Disaster dataset comes at a critical time. As the frequency and cost of extreme weather events continue to rise, having consistent, comprehensive data is essential for understanding the true toll of climate change on communities and the economy,” said Adam Smith, Senior Climate Impacts Analyst for Climate Central. “I’m proud to continue this work with Climate Central and to ensure that this vital information remains accessible to the public, researchers, and decision-makers.”
