By Mary O’KEEFE

This week the Trump administration dismissed about 400 scientists who were working on the congressionally mandated National Climate Report. According to reports, scientists were informed on Monday afternoon that their services to write a report on climate change for the federal government were not needed. 

Just to make it clear, what was canceled was the National Climate Assessment report that is produced every four years. It was mandated by Congress under the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The sixth edition was due in 2027.

Apparently, according to reports, the “scope” of the assessment is being “reevaluated” by the administration to make certain it complies with the law. 

“The Trump administration has dismissed all the scientists from their work on the nation’s most important climate change report,” said Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, in a statement. “Refusing to study climate change won’t make it go away – or help us deal with stronger storms, droughts, floods, wildfires and hotter temperatures, or help us stop emitting the pollution that is making it worse.”

This really shouldn’t be a surprise; Project 2025 had mentioned that the authors felt that the report needed to include “diverse viewpoints.” Here’s the thing: It is difficult to get two scientists to exactly agree on any issue; however, having over 400 share their fact-based findings on the climate is something unique. 

These scientists share the risks, impacts and responses to climate change. And the bottom line is the climate is changing. Now there are varied studies and evaluations among scientists as to how fast things are changing and what is actually accelerating climate change as opposed to natural change, but all of that is discussed in these reports. The data shows that greenhouse gas is affecting the climate and that this something that has to be dealt with – not ignored. 

Knowledge is power and in this case the knowledge on what the future holds in the area of climate helps society prepare for the future. It is not a political statement; it is a guide for those who work with infrastructure for communities, like ours, that need to prepare for wildfires and floods. The concern is now that 400 climate scientists have been dismissed who will write the report or will a report even be written?

There is a slight chance of rain on Friday but thunderstorms are expected from late Saturday into Sunday with wind gusts up to 35 to 40 mph. 

And it is going to be cold – abnormally cold. We will see about 10 degrees below normal temps in our area and 20 degrees below normal in the desert areas. 

Friday will be in the low 70s, but Saturday and Sunday will be in the low 60s/ high 50s.