The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has received a last-minute reprieve to stave off the cancellation of a contract by the federal government that would have forced some websites to shut down at midnight Friday, Axios has reported.
In February, the Commerce Department required NOAA to trim its information technology budget by half. The resulting cuts were to primarily affect cloud services and agency networks that transmit weather and climate information.
Before Friday’s reprieve, websites in NOAA’s research division, such as the National Severe Storms Laboratory, the Climate Program Office, the home website of NOAA research and the Earth Prediction Innovation Center were some of the websites in danger of going dark, Bloomberg first reported.
On the recommendation of the Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump administration in March announced a staffing reduction at NOAA of nearly 1,000 jobs.
Experts in the field of weather forecasting expressed their dismay at the administration’s impending cuts, saying they would lead to less-accurate forecasting and therefore deadlier storms.
The websites affected would primarily be in NOAA’s research division and would several websites and datasets inaccessible to the public.
Last month, the National Weather Service announced it was eliminating or reducing weather balloon launches, which experts say will weaken forecasting efforts.
D. James Baker, a former NOAA chief during the Clinton administration, called the balloons “an absolutely essential piece of the forecasting system,” adding, “The thing about weather balloons is that they give you information you can't get any other way.”
On Thursday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., sent a 25-member letter to Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Stephen Ehikian, acting administrator of the General Services Administration, requesting that the administration’s cuts be reconsidered.
“That is why we are deeply troubled by the administration's ongoing plans to lay off thousands of agency staff and shutter dozens of NOAA and NWS offices,” the letter said. “These agencies provide critical forecasting that supports emergency response efforts, saves lives, and mitigates damage during severe weather events. Cutting these services as extreme weather intensifies is a costly mistake.”
Moskowitz noted in his letter that reducing NOAA’s staff and capabilities will not save costs in the long run as weaker forecasting will lead to higher disaster recovery costs.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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