The Trump administration on Monday shut down a federal website containing congressionally mandated climate research reports, eliminating public access to five versions of the National Climate Assessment and extensive data on how global warming affects the United States.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program's website, globalchange.gov, was taken offline along with more than 200 publications including yearly reports to Congress and studies on Arctic conditions, agriculture, and human health. The move prompted sharp criticism from scientists who described it as censorship that will hinder the nation's ability to prepare for extreme weather events.
"They're public documents. It's scientific censorship at its worst," said Peter Gleick, a California water and climate scientist who co-authored the first National Climate Assessment in 20001. "This is the modern version of book burning."
The website shutdown represents the latest action in the Trump administration's systematic removal of climate information from government platforms. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the website's removal1.
The site had hosted the Fifth National Climate Assessment, described as "the preeminent source of authoritative information on the risks, impacts, and responses to climate change in the United States"1. Until Monday, it provided interactive tools showing projected climate changes by region, including temperature shifts and rainfall patterns.
This action follows the elimination of climate.gov's entire 10-person staff in recent months, effectively ending updates to NOAA's primary climate information portal for the public1. Rebecca Lindsey, the site's former program manager, was among those laid off after 13 years managing the platform that attracted nearly one million monthly visitors1.
Environmental groups have filed federal lawsuits challenging the administration's removal of climate and environmental justice tools, including EJScreen and the Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool23. The lawsuit argues these removals violate the public's right to access taxpayer-funded datasets.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program operates under a 1990 law requiring climate assessments every four years. In April, the Trump administration dismissed hundreds of scientists working on the next National Climate Assessment report1.
Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe of Texas Tech University, who authored four previous assessment versions, said the 1990 law mandates that research findings remain available to federal agencies and that National Climate Assessments be accessible digitally1.
"Climate is changing faster than any time in human history," Hayhoe said1. "It tells people in your region, here is what is already happening and here is what is going to happen."
