Close Menu
All Hail Trump
  • Home
  • Donald Trump
  • Hub
  • Latest News
  • Life
  • More Today
  • Policies
  • Today’s latest
    • Top Stories & Analysis
  • Politics

Subscribe to Updates

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

What's Hot

Zohran Mamdani Reacts to Report Trump Could Get Involved in NYC Race

August 7, 2025

Trump EPA says it will defend tough lead pipe replacement rule from Biden

August 7, 2025

DOJ tells judge it will ask Supreme Court to quickly rule on constitutionality of Trump’s birthright citizenship order

August 7, 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
All Hail TrumpAll Hail Trump
  • Home
  • Donald Trump
  • Hub
  • Latest News
  • Life
  • More Today
  • Policies
  • Today’s latest
    • Top Stories & Analysis
  • Politics
All Hail Trump
Home»Hub»Firings at US weather and oceans agency risk lives and economy, former agency heads warn
Hub

Firings at US weather and oceans agency risk lives and economy, former agency heads warn

Robert JonesBy Robert JonesMarch 1, 2025No Comments6 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email


WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal weather and oceans agency touches people’s daily lives in unnoticed ways, so massive firings there will likely cause needless deaths and a big hit to America’s economy, according to the people who ran it.

The first round of firings started Thursday at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a government agency that monitors the oceans, the atmosphere where storms roam and space, and puts out hundreds of “products” daily. Those products generally save lives and money, experts say.

NOAA’s 301 billion weather forecasts every year reach 96% of American households.

The firings are “going to affect safety of flight, safety of shipping, safety of everyday Americans,” Admiral Tim Gallaudet told The Associated Press Friday. President Donald Trump appointed Gallaudet as acting NOAA chief during his last administration. “Lives are at risk for sure.”

Former NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad agreed.

“We’re getting into prime tornado time. We’re getting into planting season for the agricultural season for the bread belt,” Spinrad said. “It’s going to affect safety. It’s going to affect the economy.”

That’s because “NOAA sort of gets forgotten, until it’s very important,” said private meteorologist Ryan Maue, a conservative and a NOAA chief scientist under Trump.

“This throws sand in the gears” of an agency that is understaffed but doing “a Herculean job,” Maue said.

Elon Musk has repeatedly defended federal workforce cuts by his Department of Government Efficiency as “common sense.”

“The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk said from the Oval Office this month. “That’s what democracy is all about.”

What does NOAA do?

The agency creates daily weather forecasts from 122 local offices, issuing warnings for deadly tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, wildfires and floods.

Disaster and local officials use those to advise the public on how to avoid danger. Farmers use seasonal outlooks for crop advice. Pilots use aviation forecasts. Forecasts from private weather apps on phones, on television and elsewhere are based on NOAA satellites, data and forecasts.

“That’s an amazing undertaking to monitor that. You can’t count on TV meteorologists to fill this gap and you can’t count on private meteorology,” Maue said. “You can’t count on your weather app to call you up and alert you’’ to tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and floods in your area.

What is the potential impact of the dismissals?

In the west, dozens of NOAA meteorologists provide firefighting crews with up-to-the-minute forecasts on wind and other shifting conditions that affect fires and could mean life or death, said Elbert “Joe” Friday, a former director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. They also are key in avalanche warnings.

In the water, ships use the agency’s weather forecasts and mapping of water channels for safety, while NOAA manages fisheries worth hundreds of billions of dollars and stunning ocean sanctuaries.

Gallaudet, who was a Navy rear admiral, said NOAA guidance on weather and shipping channels will be so hurt by the firings that America could see more accidents like when a massive container ship ran into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024.

It was NOAA’s quick work that enabled the reopening of Baltimore’s economically critical port after a only a couple months, Spinrad said. In Alaska, the city of Nome wants to create a deep water port, but it needs NOAA to do a channel survey first, he said.

NOAA provides the science expertise in the response to major oil spills in coastal areas, including 2010’s BP Deepwater Horizon, Spinrad said.

In space, NOAA forecasts help prevent satellites — including those belonging to Musk’s SpaceX — from colliding. The agency also watches for solar flares that can knock out parts of the electrical grid and hurt air traffic communications, officials said. NOAA owns or operates 18 satellites in orbit.

“Three years ago, SpaceX lost 40 satellites due to their ignorance of space weather implications and upper atmosphere density impacts. They immediately came to NOAA and said, ‘hey, help us out’,” Spinrad said, calling it “an object lesson there for Elon Musk himself” on the agency’s value.

The National Weather Service is worth $102 billion a year to the U.S. economy, according to a 2022 study by the American Meteorological Society and economist Jeffrey Lazo. Before the current Trump administration, NOAA had a $6.7 billion budget, including nearly $1.4 billion for the National Weather Service, one of six sub-agencies.

How many NOAA workers were dismissed?

NOAA officials would not reveal how many people were fired Thursday or are being let go, citing privacy. Current and past NOAA leaders and employees have given various estimates on job cuts, ranging from 580 to 1,200.

Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said the latest figure he has is 650 terminations.

Jane Lubchenco, another former NOAA chief, said the firings “are a national disaster and a colossal waste of money.”

These are not high-paying jobs, but it’s work being done by people who love it, so cutting NOAA is like going after coins in the couch, Maue said.

“These are people who just live and breathe this work. These are the kind of people who come in on a day off because there’s a big weather event and they want to help out,” said College of the Holy Cross environmental sciences professor Keith Seitter, the former director of the American Meteorological Society. “People don’t go into meteorology because they want to get rich.”

Seitter said there will “be things that fall through the cracks where they shouldn’t,” because of the dismissals, warning “those things lead to situations that could be deadly’’

Gallaudet, appointed by Trump, called the cuts “self-defeating,” saying “I could personally never work for Trump again. I did support some of the conservative policies. I still do, but he personally as a leader, he’s despicable.”

___

This story was first published on Feb. 28, 2025. It was updated on Mar. 1, 2025 to correct the name of a college. The name is College of the Holy Cross, not Holy Cross University.

___

Becky Bohrer contributed from Juneau, Alaska, and Brittany Peterson contributed from Denver.

___

Follow Seth Borenstein on X at @borenbears

___

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.



Source link

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Robert Jones

Related Posts

Trump EPA says it will defend tough lead pipe replacement rule from Biden

August 7, 2025

US-Brazil relations hit low as Trump backs Bolsonaro with sanctions

August 7, 2025

US dismisses majority of federal board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances

August 7, 2025
Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Our Picks

Zohran Mamdani Reacts to Report Trump Could Get Involved in NYC Race

August 7, 2025

Trump EPA says it will defend tough lead pipe replacement rule from Biden

August 7, 2025

DOJ tells judge it will ask Supreme Court to quickly rule on constitutionality of Trump’s birthright citizenship order

August 7, 2025

Illinois’ JB Pritzker Reacts to Possibility of FBI Arresting Texas Democrats

August 7, 2025
Don't Miss

Trump vows 100% tariff on chips, unless companies are building in the U.S.

Donald Trump August 6, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Apple CEO Tim Cook in the…

Trump’s defense of firing BLS chief relies on twisted timeline

August 6, 2025

5 soldiers shot at military base, Army says

August 6, 2025

Apple shares pop 5% ahead of Trump-Cook announcement

August 6, 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news

Subscribe my Newsletter for New Posts & tips Let's stay updated!

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Contact Us
  • DMCA
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© 2025 allhailtrump. Designed by allhailtrump.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.