Trump Administration’s Climate Denialism Decision

• The Trump administration’s decision to rewrite global warming data could lead to a knowledge vacuum in global policymaking.

• The National Climate Assessment (NCA) Reports, a comprehensive analysis of global warming, are used by planners to devise mitigation strategies.

• In April, the Trump administration dismissed hundreds of scientists working on the latest edition of the NCA.

• The website hosting these reports was deleted last month, some of which are still available elsewhere.

• US Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the Trump administration would “update” these studies, but this does not appear convincing given his climate skepticism.

• Trump’s administration has weaponised budget cuts to erode the autonomy of scientific agencies and made climate denialism part of their mandate.

• The cancellation of NCA data could make the world’s largest economy and second-largest GHG emitter less informed about the climate crisis and less prepared to confront it.