A leading US government climate website is on the verge of permanent closure after the Trump administration abruptly fired nearly all its staff, sparking widespread alarm among scientists and environmental groups. The National Climate Data Platform (NCDP), a vital public resource used by researchers, farmers, urban planners and policymakers, is reportedly unable to function following the mass dismissal of personnel earlier this week.
The move is part of a wider political campaign by President Trump to dismantle federal environmental oversight and stifle official climate science. The layoffs were confirmed by multiple former employees and advocacy organisations, who say that out of more than 120 full-time staff, only three remain. Several key databases have already gone offline, and internal emails indicate that remaining functions will be “suspended indefinitely” unless emergency funding or political intervention occurs.
From a climate crisis perspective, the closure could not come at a worse time. With extreme weather events accelerating, sea levels rising, and emissions targets under pressure globally, the loss of one of the world’s most comprehensive open-access climate monitoring sites deals a serious blow to collective understanding and response capabilities. Experts have warned that crucial datasets on temperature records, arctic ice melt, wildfire patterns, and long-term modelling may become inaccessible or even deleted.
The NCDP was instrumental in global climate coordination, having worked closely with NASA, NOAA, and UN-affiliated agencies. Without it, real-time comparison of emission patterns, localised environmental risk planning, and trend verification could face major disruption. Climate scientists across the US and abroad described the action as “sabotage of planetary stewardship”.
Environmental groups have accused the administration of acting deliberately to conceal evidence of climate deterioration. “This is not just anti-science, it is anti-survival,” said a former senior analyst at the platform. “You cannot build resilience while tearing down the very tools that measure the threat.”
Public reaction has been swift, with environmental NGOs calling for Congress to intervene and restore funding. A petition to save the platform gathered over half a million signatures within 48 hours, and multiple states are exploring legal options to preserve access to archived data. Still, with no official comment from the White House beyond a generic statement about “efficiency and redundancy,” hopes for reversal remain slim.
For many, the event underscores a growing tension in American governance: between short-term political theatre and long-term planetary responsibility. As the climate crisis deepens, the absence of accurate, accessible information becomes more than a bureaucratic failure—it becomes an existential one.
Whether the NCDP can be saved or resurrected elsewhere remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that science has once again become collateral in a broader ideological war. And in that war, the climate does not wait.
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