In brief
Despite recent turmoil, leading U.S. scientists are committed to advancing climate understanding in light of the Trump administration's controversial report dismissals.
The Trump administration's recent decision to terminate the involvement of nearly 400 authors from the National Climate Assessment (NCA6) has created considerable uncertainty around the future of this critical climate report. The White House claimed the report's scope was under review, leaving many questioning the administration's commitment to climate science.In response to this upheaval, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) announced their intention to publish the work of the dismissed authors independently. Brandon Jones, AGU's president and a director at the National Science Foundation, emphasized in a statement the urgent need to prepare communities for the escalating dangers brought by climate change. "This collaboration offers a vital pathway for researchers to unite and deliver the essential science required to tackle climate change challenges," he declared.The National Climate Assessment regularly surveys and reports on climate science in the U.S. and outlines measures to adapt and mitigate its evolution. Historically, five editions of the report have been published since 2000, with the sixth edition previously slated for early 2028.Importantly, the new findings compiled by AGU and AMS will not serve as a replacement for the federal report mandated by Congress, ensuring that federal climate collaboration continues despite ongoing challenges.The dismissal email sent to the authors referenced a reassessment of the report's scope as an effort to comply with the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which established the U.S. Global Change Research Program—a program that saw staffing and budget cuts enacted by the administration in April.
