Two research bodies joined forces on collecting peer-reviewed research to support the Congress-mandated US National Climate Assessment days after the Trump administration dismissed its contributors.
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Two major US research organizations have stepped up after the Trump administration dismissed all the scientists working on an assessment of climate change in the US.
The American Geophysical Union (AGU), the world’s largest association of Earth and space scientists, and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) called on researchers to submit peer-reviewed studies to inform the upcoming National Climate Assessment (NCA).
Required by Congress and published every few years since 2000, the NCA is the most comprehensive source of information about how climate change affects the US. State and local governments, as well as private companies, have been using the report to prepare for the impacts of climate change-related calamities, such as heatwaves, floods, and droughts.
But hundreds of volunteer contributors who had been working for almost a year on the sixth edition of the assessment, scheduled for early 2028, were dismissed in late April. An email informed them that the report’s scope was being “re-evaluated” and thanked them for their work.
“As plans develop for the assessment, there may be future opportunities to contribute or engage. Thank you for your service,” the email read.
In a statement released on Friday, AMS and AGU said it was their duty to “maintain momentum” of research supporting the assessment and to ensure Americans are “protected and prepared” for the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.
“The National Climate Assessment is a comprehensive, rigorous integration and evaluation of the latest climate science knowledge that decision makers — from government at all levels to private enterprise — need in order to understand the world in which we live,” said AMS President David J. Stensrud.
Featured image: Lieut. Commander Mark Moran, NOAA Corps, NMAO/AOC via Flickr.
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