NOAA shuts down billion-dollar disaster database, raising concerns over data access

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the discontinuation of its billion-dollar weather and climate disasters database, a significant resource tracking the costs of severe weather events in the United States since 1980. This decision results from significant staff reductions under the Trump administration, which prioritized cuts to climate-related programs. The database has been essential for assessing the impact of disasters, compiling data from various private sources, including insurance records, to create a comprehensive understanding of economic damages resulting from extreme weather events. Starting in 2025, no new data will be collected, rendering future analyses nearly impossible. This closure follows a trend of diminishing climate infrastructure during the Trump administration, marked by layoffs and budget reductions targeting NOAA. The agency's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) stated that while past reports will remain accessible, the lack of updates for future years will hinder public understanding and research concerning billion-dollar disasters. This cessation is particularly troubling as studies show that the number and cost of such disasters is on the rise, indicating that the decision to discontinue this resource may exacerbate existing information gaps. Since 1980, the database registered 403 billion-dollar disasters that collectively cost almost $2.945 trillion in damages, directly linking increased property exposure and climate change-related phenomena to rising disaster costs. The decision promotes concerns that communities, especially those in disaster-prone areas, will struggle to gauge risk or engage in effective disaster planning. As socioeconomic vulnerabilities influenced by race, age, and income are closely tied to these events, the closure also means that essential data assisting in identifying and addressing these vulnerabilities will vanish as resources become scarcer. The closure of this pivotal database reveals a broader concern about the Trump administration’s focus on diminishing oversight and accountability regarding climate change issues. The potential for deep cuts to NOAA’s research division and climate labs raises alarms about future data collection capabilities and overall public access to information concerning climate risks, threatening the effectiveness of governmental responses to increasingly urgent environmental and weather-related challenges.