Experts Warn: Trump’s NOAA Dismantling Risks Wildfires and Agriculture Chaos

The Impact on Agriculture

Farmers in the arid West depend on NOAA’s data for planning crop cycles. The elimination of NOAA could lead to increased costs for farmers, as they would need to purchase private weather services, affecting their profit margins and potentially increasing food prices.

Ashley House, a Colorado-based advocate for farmers, emphasizes the importance of federal climate modeling for seasonal planning. Without it, farmers may struggle to mitigate flooding and other natural disasters that affect their yields.

House highlights the need for as many tools as possible to manage risks:

• Streamflow data
• Snowpack monitoring
• Drought tracking

.

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Privatizing weather forecasts adds another financial burden on farmers. It could lead to a rise in food prices, as they incur additional costs for planning and forecasting, House warns.

Wildfire Management Concerns

NOAA plays a critical role in firefighter safety and wildfire management. Their data aids in predicting conditions that could lead to wildfires and helps communities recover from post-fire effects such as flooding and debris flows.

Wildfires have become more intense and frequent, making NOAA’s data crucial for planning. The agency estimates a potential 600% increase in wildfire risk in some Western areas, necessitating accurate forecasting.

Michele Steinberg of the National Fire Protection Association stresses that NOAA helps communities stay ahead of wildfires. Losing its services could jeopardize firefighter and civilian safety, she warns.

Project 2025’s proposal to privatize NOAA’s operations raises concerns about accessibility to crucial data for firefighters and residents in wildfire-prone zones.

Academic Partnerships at Risk

NOAA’s collaboration with universities is vital for climate research. Christine Wiedinmyer from the University of Colorado Boulder calls the partnership a “win-win-win” for the agency, students, and the state’s economy.

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The cooperative agreement supports jobs and economic sectors reliant on environmental data, such as tourism, agriculture, and research. Losing NOAA partnerships would result in a significant loss of employment, Wiedinmyer notes.

Streamflow prediction, snowpack monitoring, and drought response are all areas where NOAA’s contributions have wide-reaching impacts across the West, safeguarding resources and public health.

Similar benefits are seen in other states, including Alaska, Arizona, and California, where NOAA’s cooperation is crucial for managing environmental challenges.

Privatization Perils

Privatizing NOAA’s services raises concerns about rural communities accessing quality weather forecasts. Aaron Weiss of the Center for Western Priorities questions the economic incentive for private companies to serve sparsely populated areas.

Weiss argues that privatization could lead to a loss in data continuity, affecting long-term climate research. A four-year hiatus would create gaps in datasets that are essential for understanding climate trends.

Steinberg from the National Fire Protection Association questions how privatized services would be driven by profit motives, potentially limiting access to vital data.

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The potential dismantling of NOAA could result in a “generational loss of information,” impacting research and denying the reality of climate change, Weiss suggests.