The government cuts key data used in hurricane forecasting, and experts sound an alarm
Weather experts are warning that hurricane forecasts will be severely hampered by the upcoming cutoff of key data from U.S. Department of Defense satellites, the latest Trump administration move with potential consequences for the quality of forecasting.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it would discontinue the 'ingest, processing and distribution' of data collected by three weather satellites that the agency jointly runs with the Defense Department. The data is used by scientists, researchers and forecasters, including at the National Hurricane Center.
It wasn't immediately clear why the government planned to cut off the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's microwave data by Monday. The Defense Department referred questions to the Air Force, which referred them to the Navy, which did not immediately provide comment. NOAA did not immediately respond to a message.
Unlike traditional weather satellites, the microwave data helps peer under a regular image of a hurricane or a tropical cyclone to see what is going on inside the storm, and it is especially helpful at night.
The news is especially noteworthy during the ongoing hurricane season and as lesser storms have become more frequent, deadly and costly as climate change is worsened by the burning of fossil fuels.
Microwave imagery allows researchers and forecasters to see the center of the storm. Experts say that can help in detecting the rapid intensification of storms and in more accurately plotting the likely path of dangerous weather.
'If a hurricane, let's say, is approaching the Gulf Coast, it's a day away from making landfall, it's nighttime,' said Union of Concerned Scientists science fellow Marc Alessi. 'We will no longer be able to say, OK, this storm is definitely undergoing rapid intensification, we need to update our forecasts to reflect that.'
Other microwave data will be available but only roughly half as much, hurricane specialist Michael Lowry said in a blog post. He said that greatly increases the odds that forecasters will miss rapid intensification, underestimate intensity or misplace the storm.
That 'will severely impede and degrade hurricane forecasts for this season and beyond, affecting tens of millions of Americans who live along its hurricane-prone shorelines,' he said.
University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy called the loss of data 'alarmingly bad news' in a post on Bluesky.
'Microwave data are already relatively sparse, so any loss — even gradual as satellites or instruments fail — is a big deal; but to abruptly end three active functioning satellites is insanity.'
NOAA and its National Weather Service office have been the target of several cuts and changes in President Donald Trump's second term. The Department of Government Efficiency gutted the agency's workforce, local field offices and funding.
Already, hurricane forecasts were anticipated to be less accurate this year because weather balloons launches have been curtailed because of the lack of staffing.
'What happened this week is another attempt by the Trump administration to sabotage our weather and climate infrastructure,' Alessi said.
___
Wednesdays
Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture.
Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.
___
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
8 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
B.C. climate news: Western Canada glaciers melting twice as fast as in previous decade
Article content Here's the latest news concerning climate change and biodiversity loss in B.C. and around the world, from the steps leaders are taking to address the problems, to all the up-to-date science. Article content Article content Article content Human activities like burning fossil fuels and farming livestock are the main drivers of climate change, according to the UN's intergovernmental panel on climate change. This causes heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere, increasing the planet's surface temperature. Article content Article content The panel, which is made up of scientists from around the world, including researchers from B.C., has warned for decades that wildfires and severe weather, such as the province's deadly heat dome and catastrophic flooding in 2021, would become more frequent and intense because of the climate emergency. It has issued a code red for humanity and warns the window to limit warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial times is closing. Article content According to NASA climate scientists, human activities have raised the atmosphere's carbon dioxide content by 50 per cent in less than 200 years, and 'there is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate.' Article content Article content And it continues to rise. As of June 5, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen to 430.51 parts per million, up from 429.64 ppm last month and 427.09 ppm in March, according to NOAA data measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory, a global atmosphere monitoring lab in Hawaii. The NOAA notes there has been a steady rise in CO2 from under 320 ppm in 1960. Article content Article content Article content Climate change quick facts: Article content • The Earth is now about 1.3 C warmer than it was in the 1800s. • 2024 was hottest year on record globally, beating the record in 2023. • The global average temperature in 2023 reached 1.48 C higher than the pre-industrial average, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. In 2024, it breached the 1.5 C threshold at 1.55 C. • The past 10 years (2015-2024) are the 10 warmest on record. • Human activities have raised atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by nearly 49 per cent above pre-industrial levels starting in 1850. • The world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement target to keep global temperature from exceeding 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, the upper limit to avoid the worst fallout from climate change including sea level rise, and more intense drought, heat waves and wildfires. • On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, the temperature could increase by as much 3.6 C this century, according to the IPCC. • In June 2025, global concentrations of carbon dioxide exceeded 430 parts per million, a record high. • Emissions must drop 7.6 per cent per year from 2020 to 2030 to keep temperatures from exceeding 1.5 C and 2.7 per cent per year to stay below 2 C. • There is global scientific consensus that the climate is warming and that humans are the cause.
Vancouver Sun
8 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
B.C. climate news: Western Canada glaciers melting twice as fast as in previous decade
Here's the latest news concerning climate change and biodiversity loss in B.C. and around the world, from the steps leaders are taking to address the problems, to all the up-to-date science. Check back every Saturday for more climate and environmental news or sign up for our Climate Connected newsletter HERE. • Western Canada glaciers melting twice as fast as in previous decade, research says • Intensifying heat dome over parts of Eastern Canada fuelling unpredictable weather in the West • How climate change could start the next financial crisis Human activities like burning fossil fuels and farming livestock are the main drivers of climate change, according to the UN's intergovernmental panel on climate change. This causes heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere, increasing the planet's surface temperature. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The panel, which is made up of scientists from around the world, including researchers from B.C., has warned for decades that wildfires and severe weather, such as the province's deadly heat dome and catastrophic flooding in 2021, would become more frequent and intense because of the climate emergency. It has issued a code red for humanity and warns the window to limit warming to 1.5 C above pre-industrial times is closing. According to NASA climate scientists, human activities have raised the atmosphere's carbon dioxide content by 50 per cent in less than 200 years, and 'there is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate.' And it continues to rise. As of June 5, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen to 430.51 parts per million, up from 429.64 ppm last month and 427.09 ppm in March, according to NOAA data measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory, a global atmosphere monitoring lab in Hawaii. The NOAA notes there has been a steady rise in CO2 from under 320 ppm in 1960. • The Earth is now about 1.3 C warmer than it was in the 1800s. • 2024 was hottest year on record globally, beating the record in 2023. • The global average temperature in 2023 reached 1.48 C higher than the pre-industrial average, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. In 2024, it breached the 1.5 C threshold at 1.55 C. • The past 10 years (2015-2024) are the 10 warmest on record. • Human activities have raised atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by nearly 49 per cent above pre-industrial levels starting in 1850. • The world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement target to keep global temperature from exceeding 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, the upper limit to avoid the worst fallout from climate change including sea level rise, and more intense drought, heat waves and wildfires. • On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, the temperature could increase by as much 3.6 C this century, according to the IPCC. • In June 2025, global concentrations of carbon dioxide exceeded 430 parts per million, a record high. • Emissions must drop 7.6 per cent per year from 2020 to 2030 to keep temperatures from exceeding 1.5 C and 2.7 per cent per year to stay below 2 C. • There is global scientific consensus that the climate is warming and that humans are the cause. (Sources: United Nations IPCC , World Meteorological Organization , UNEP , NASA , ) Researchers say some glaciers in Western Canada and the United States lost 12 per cent of their mass from 2021 to 2024, doubling melt rates compared to the previous decade in a continuation of a concerning global trend. The research led by a University of Northern British Columbia professor, Brian Menounos, says low snow accumulation over winter, early-season heat waves, and prolonged warm and dry spells were contributing factors. It says impurities such as ash from severe wildfire seasons have also 'darkened' glaciers, causing them to absorb more heat and triggering a feedback loop that will lead to continued loss unless the ice is covered by fresh snow. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters this week, examined glaciers in Western Canada and the United States, excluding Alaska and Yukon, as well as Switzerland, where glaciers lost 13 per cent of their mass over the same period. The research letter says glaciers in both regions lost mass twice as fast as they did between 2010 and 2020. Menounos says climate change and its effects, including heat waves and changing snow patterns, are draining the 'bank account' of fresh water that glaciers contain. Read the full story here. —The Canadian Press If you are over the age of 40, there is a good chance you remember where you were on September 15 2008, the day Lehman Brothers went bust. It was one of the first of many shocking moments during the last global financial crisis, a searing time of bank runs, crashes and bankruptcies when big economies tumbled into some of their deepest recessions since the Great Depression. Stunned Lehman staff, who left the 158-year-old investment bank's offices carrying their belongings in cardboard boxes, came to symbolize the millions who lost their jobs, homes and life savings in a disaster that destroyed trillions of dollars of wealth. There were multiple culprits for the mayhem but, as with so many financial debacles, the property market was implicated. In 2006, the air went out of a U.S. housing bubble fuelled by supposedly safe mortgage-backed securities that had been sold around the world and included risky 'subprime' home loans. As the number of mortgage defaults and foreclosures climbed, the value of these securities plunged, saddling investors with crippling losses and prompting panic in financial markets. In the months after the crisis hit, government bailouts and sweeping reforms began to put the battered financial system back together. Today, big banks are better capitalized. Markets are better regulated and investors more protected as a result of those reforms. And yet each month now brings warnings with echoes of that strife. Fears are growing that property markets could again be roiled, this time not by risky lending practices but by rising numbers of climate-related disasters putting pressure on insurers and other critical financial institutions. 'Property values will eventually fall — just like in 2008 — sending household wealth tumbling,' said Next to Fall, a December report on climate change and insurance from the then Democrat-chaired U.S. Senate Budget Committee. 'The United States could be looking at a systemic shock to the economy similar to the financial crisis of 2008 — if not greater.' In January, the Financial Stability Board, which was set up to keep an eye on the global financial system after the 2008 crisis, said insurance was becoming more costly and scarce in disaster-prone areas and 'climate shocks' could set off wider market turmoil. Read the full story here. —Financial Times Climate change appears to be making some of Switzerland's vaunted glaciers look like Swiss cheese: full of holes. Matthias Huss of the glacier monitoring group GLAMOS offered a glimpse of the Rhone Glacier, which feeds the eponymous river that flows through Switzerland and France to the Mediterranean, shared the observation with The Associated Press this month as he trekked up to the icy expanse for a first 'maintenance mission' of the summer to monitor its health. The state of Switzerland's glaciers came into stark and dramatic view of the international community last month when a mudslide from an Alpine mountain submerged the southwestern village of Blatten. The Birch Glacier on the mountain, which had been holding back a mass of rock near the peak, gave way — sending an avalanche into the valley village below. Experts say geological shifts and, to a lesser extent global warming, played a role. Fortunately, the village had been largely evacuated beforehand, but Swiss authorities said a 64-year-old man had gone missing after the incident. Late Tuesday, regional Valais police said they had found and were examining human remains of a person who died in the mudslide. Read the full story here. —The Associated Press Blame the heat dome hanging over Ontario and Quebec for some of the strange weather hitting other parts of the country. Environment Canada meteorologist Julien Pellerin says scorching temperatures over the eastern part of the continent are causing below-normal temperatures in other regions, which have led to warnings of wet snow and heavy rain in the West. 'If you have a heat dome on a sector, you can expect colder air in another sector, so that's what the Prairies are currently experiencing,' Pellerin said on Sunday. 'It's coming from the United States, a high-pressure system that doesn't move quickly … so it brings intense heat and moist air over southern Ontario and southern Quebec, and it'll settle there for the next three days.' The dangerous temperature levels span from southwestern Ontario towards North Bay, Sudbury and Timmins, while in Quebec, the highest temperatures were expected from Montreal to Shawinigan and north up to Abitibi. Pellerin expected Ontario and Quebec to hit their peak daytime highs on Monday and Tuesday with temperatures rising above 30 C, and the humidex making it feel more like 40 to 45 degrees, depending on the region. Read the full story here. —The Canadian Press Tens of millions of Americans sweltered outside or sought air-conditioned refuge as an 'extremely dangerous' heat wave blanketed the eastern United States on Tuesday with record high temperatures. As a fierce sun reflected off the skyscrapers of New York, the normally frenetic Times Square was virtually deserted by mid-day as the mercury reached 37 C, the hottest since 2012 in the Big Apple. By mid-afternoon Newark, N.J., hit 39.4 C, according to the National Weather Service, and Philadelphia also reached 38 C. 'Extremely dangerous heat persists across the Midwest and East Coast … affecting nearly half of the U.S. population at 161 million people,' the NWS warned in an advisory, which also urged people to limit their physical activity due to poor air quality. Read the full story here. —AFP War and climate change are existential threats that need to be battled at the same time and often with the same tools, experts say. Their comments come as NATO members gather this week in The Hague to discuss boosting military budgets amid conflicts raging in Ukraine, Gaza and, most recently, Iran. The meeting is also happening against a backdrop of rising global temperatures, which have increased the threat of more intense and frequent natural disasters, such as wildfires and floods. Catastrophes across Europe have already become so overwhelming that governments have increasingly deployed their armies for relief efforts. Countries should identify the areas where climate and conflict overlap to use budgets more efficiently, said Julian Popov, a senior fellow at Brussels think tank Strategic Perspectives and Bulgaria's former minister of the environment. 'We can't tackle these crises separately because the resources are insufficient,' he said. 'We have to find ways to deal with them in a combined way.' NATO and armed forces across the world routinely recognize climate change as a security risk that will touch every aspect of defence over the long term. Water scarcity is contributing to instability in some regions, adding fuel to existing conflicts, according to the United Nations. The melting Arctic is unlocking new maritime routes, spurring a race to control the resources-rich region. Armies are vulnerable to climate change, too, with extreme weather events threatening strategic infrastructure and making military operations harder to plan. Read the full story here. —Bloomberg News In the months before Ottawa sweated through this week's extreme heat event, Glen Kenny was creating his own heat waves at the University of Ottawa research unit he heads. Inside the extensive series of labs, volunteers exercised, spent time and even slept in temperatures topping 40 degrees during the day and slightly cooler at night while being closely monitored. Kenny, a professor of physiology at the University of Ottawa and the University Research Chair in Human Environmental Physiology, has spent the past 35 years studying the impact of heat on people – including himself. Kenny is one of the world's leading experts on the subject and heads the world's largest research lab assessing the effects of heat stress. Kenny's work has helped inform policies and guidelines to protect people who work and live in the heat. It has helped reshape the understanding of human heat resiliency. With growing numbers of extreme heat events driven by climate change, that work has taken on a new urgency. Kenny warns that society needs to do a better job of understanding the impact of extreme heat and how to mitigate it because things are likely to get worse with potentially disastrous consequences. Read the full story here. —Ottawa Citizen A report by B.C.'s Forest Practices Board urges the provincial government to enlist logging companies in the effort to reduce wildfire risk across B.C. A report following a two-year investigation found that outdated rules and unclear responsibilities are preventing forestry from becoming a powerful wildfire-defence tool. The independent forestry watchdog agency examined forestry operations from 2019 to 2022 in wildfire risk zones where communities and forests meet in the Sea to Sky, Cariboo-Chilcotin and Peace natural resource districts, covering the Coast, Interior and northeastern regions of B.C. 'More than one million British Columbians live in interface areas with high or extreme wildfire risk,' said Keith Atkinson, the chairman of the Forest Practices Board. 'Foresters are already active in these spaces. With better rules and incentives, their efforts can become part of the wildfire solution.' B.C. forest ministry officials said it will take time to 'carefully' review the final report and consider its recommendations. The Forest Practice Board's research shows that logging occurs at about 11 times the rate of wildfire risk reduction work in B.C. Read the full story here. —Gordon Hoekstra, Glenda Luymes
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
U.S. government cuts key hurricane forecasting data from satellites
Social Sharing Weather experts are warning that hurricane forecasts will be severely hampered by the upcoming cutoff of key data from U.S. Department of Defence satellites, the latest Trump administration move with potential consequences for the quality of forecasting. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it would discontinue the "ingest, processing and distribution" of data collected by three weather satellites that the agency jointly runs with the Defense Department. The data is used by scientists, researchers and forecasters, including at the National Hurricane Center. It wasn't immediately clear why the government planned to cut off the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's microwave data by Monday. The Defence Department referred questions to the Air Force, which referred them to the Navy, which did not immediately provide comment. In a statement, NOAA spokesperson Kim Doster called it a "routine process of data rotation and replacement," and said the remaining data sources "are fully capable of providing a complete set of cutting-edge data and models that ensure the gold-standard weather forecasting the American people deserve." Data helps identify rapid intensification Traditional visible or infrared satellites provide data that becomes images showing the structure, intensity and temperature of a storm, according to NOAA information, along with features such as lightning. But those miss the three-dimensional details of a storm. The microwave data gives critical information that can't be gleaned from the conventional satellites, and helps peer under a regular image of a hurricane or a tropical cyclone to see what's going on inside. It is especially helpful at night. The news is especially noteworthy during the ongoing hurricane season and as lesser storms have become more frequent, deadly and costly as climate change is worsened by the burning of fossil fuels. WATCH | CBC meteorologist looks at what's in store for this year's hurricane season: CBC meteorologist Ashley Brauweiler breaks down this year's National Hurricane Centre forecast 1 month ago Duration 1:46 Microwave imagery allows researchers and forecasters to see the centre of the storm. Experts say that can help in detecting the rapid intensification of storms and in more accurately plotting the likely path of dangerous weather. "If a hurricane, let's say, is approaching the Gulf Coast, it's a day away from making landfall, it's nighttime," said Marc Alessi, a science fellow with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "We will no longer be able to say, 'OK, this storm is definitely undergoing rapid intensification, we need to update our forecasts to reflect that.' " Other microwave data will be available but only roughly half as much, hurricane specialist Michael Lowry said in a blog post. He said that greatly increases the odds that forecasters will miss rapid intensification, underestimate intensity or misplace the storm. That "will severely impede and degrade hurricane forecasts for this season and beyond, affecting tens of millions of Americans who live along its hurricane-prone shorelines," he said. Ending satellite access 'is insanity,' researcher says University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy called the loss of data "alarmingly bad news" in a post on Bluesky. "Microwave data are already relatively sparse, so any loss — even gradual as satellites or instruments fail — is a big deal; but to abruptly end three active functioning satellites is insanity." NOAA and its National Weather Service office have been the target of cuts and changes in U.S. President Donald Trump's second term. Already, hurricane forecasts were anticipated to be less accurate this year because weather balloons launches have been curtailed due to lack of staffing. "What happened this week is another attempt by the Trump administration to sabotage our weather and climate infrastructure," Alessi said. Canadian impact of NOAA cuts When the NOAA cuts were first announced earlier this year, Eddie Sheerr was among a growing number of Canadian scientists sounding the alarm about sweeping NOAA cuts made by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, then run by billionaire Elon Musk. Sheerr, a meteorologist with NTV in St. John's, said he uses NOAA's data and modelling "literally every day." "They have some of the best hurricane forecasters and meteorologists in the world. I rely on that data and their expertise heavily when tracking these tropical systems, as do meteorologists throughout the country," he said in a recent interview. "They provide life-saving information. Period." Sheerr said he was using NOAA data when he decided to phone Port aux Basques Mayor Brian Button the night before Fiona slammed into the community on Newfoundland's southwestern tip in September 2022. He said he figured people would tell the mayor they'd seen plenty of bad storms. "And I said, 'Brian, you haven't seen this before. And that's what you need to tell the residents.' " Sheerr urged Button to evacuate homes closest to the water, and Button took his advice. Fiona destroyed about 100 houses in the area and swept a woman out to sea. Data from NOAA makes Canadian forecasts and weather warnings more accurate, Sheerr said, adding that he worries the cuts will reduce the accuracy of forecasts and ultimately make it harder to predict the impacts of dangerous storms.
