Close
Search
Menu Menu
[gtranslate]

Trump is erasing public climate change data

Credit: Fulton Ring/ Thred
By
London, UK
0 comments
0 comments

Trump has ordered the USDA to take down government websites referencing the climate crisis. Maverick scientists are fighting back and scrambling to preserve public data.

Trump still believes climate change is a hoax and is tyrannically plotting to ensure the American people take his word for it.

Given there was a 40% decrease in the term across the websites of federal environmental agencies in his last tenure, scientists are bracing for another purge of similar, or greater proportions.

Since the dreaded announcement came in February, a climate portal on the Department of Defense’s page has been scrapped along with the dedicated site for the Department of State. I’ve linked both, for your displeasure.

These are two just two casualties of the blanket directive, which also orders the elimination of any policy positions or funding related to climate change or ‘environmental justice.’ Under the guise of economic growth and practicality, the Trump administration classifies any capital or information related to the state of our planet as a waste or distraction.

The tirade recently targeted the Federal Management Agency’s ‘Future Risk Index’, a popular online tool which projects economic loss based on extreme weather events like floods or wildfires in real time.

In an instant, years of precious data collected from the likes of NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went kaput… or so the President’s minions thought.

With a hunch that Trump’s return to office would mean another ecological exodus for public records, two rogue software engineers backed-up versions of the toolkit just in case it wound up in the search light.

A matter of weeks later, their prudence would be vindicated. The Future Risk Index was scrubbed from existence for only a matter of hours before it popped up on GitHub free of charge.

Rajan Desai and Jeremy Herzog, who both work at consulting firm Fulton Ring, claim they were tipped off that the online resource was in danger. They immediately started grabbing screenshots and downloaded data so they could recreate the resource – which only went live in December 2024, by the way.

Despite the admirable efforts of the archivist duo, they concede that the tool probably can’t be advanced any further without funding and the prior connections to federal agencies. It’s unclear if they’re going to pursue either. The index is essentially frozen; its data preserved, but with no scope to grow on a more granular level.

It had been created, first and foremost, to quantify the ambiguous effects of climate change allowing state officials, urban planners, and businesses to make plans accordingly for the future.

With it now removed from its original, accessible holding place, it’s a grim inevitability that the resource will receive less hits and ultimately prove less useful.

‘Even the best efforts that people are doing to archive this data, there’s so much information that’s lost,’ Desai says. ‘There’s more information that’s in people’s heads that is just not documented, and we’re never going to know what that information loss looks like.’

In the big picture of Trump’s masterplan to unravel the US’ ecological progress, this story is but a drop in the ocean. Alarming as the daily headlines are, nonetheless, it’s encouraging to see that people aren’t willing to lay down and concede.

We simply cannot afford to.

Editor in Chief London, UK

I’m Jamie (He/Him), the Editor in Chief at Thred. Keeping up with gaming and revolutionary technology is my forte, but when away from my keyboard, you’ll probably find me wrapped around a large Tango ice blast at the latest mediocre horror flick. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

Popular

Keep up with thred by signing up to our planet-positive newsletter!

More from thred.

Doctors say slushies a danger to children under eight
Credit: Pixlr
Companies

Doctors say slushies a danger to children under eight

Slushies are a popular, colourful drink in the UK and US. However, doctors say they contain glycerol which can cause children to lose consciousness if consumed too quickly. New research suggests that children under the age of eight should completely avoid slushy ice drinks. This is because they contain glycerol, which can make young people very ill and even lose consciousness. Cases of 21 young children in the UK and...

By Bristol, UK
What if you’re not actually dating to find ‘the one’?
Credit: Freepik/Thred
People

What if you’re not actually dating to find ‘the one’?

What about the people who don’t want to meet 'their person' or 'the one'? What if instead, we revive the concept of women being able to meet multiple ones? What’s so wrong about finding a partner (or partners) for a night rather than for life? *Starred names have been changed for anonymity Recent trends in modern dating - which dating app ad campaigns are a pretty good indicator of, unsurprisingly -...

By Manchester, UK
LA celebrity activism is clashing with environmental justice
Credit: Instagram @kourtneykardash
People

LA celebrity activism is clashing with environmental justice

As stars in one of California’s wealthiest areas protest against toxic waste disposal following devastating fires, the mass destruction of LA’s poorer communities highlights the inherent elitism of environmental discourse.  Los Angeles is still recovering from some of the most devastating fires in its history, which burnt through the Pacific Palisades community at the beginning of January and continued for a number of weeks. By the time the fires were...

By Brighton, UK
King Charles shares broadcast and playlist with Apple Music
Credit: CPL Brad Hanson
People

King Charles shares broadcast and playlist with Apple Music

As part of an effort to jump into new media, King Charles has broadcast ‘The King’s Music Room’ via Apple Music, sharing his favourite songs and a few anecdotes from his life. King Charles has collaborated with Apple Music to celebrate Commonwealth Day 2025. ‘The King’s Music Room’ is a broadcast and song playlist. Touted as a celebration of music from across the world, King Charles picks his favourite tracks...

By Bristol, UK
Accessibility