America rewrites climate history
Trump administration erases decades of climate science, replacing it with denial
The Trump administration has wiped decades of peer-reviewed climate science from America's official record. On 30th June, the government took down every National Climate Assessment report, removing the primary source of climate information that cities, states, and federal agencies have relied upon for over two decades.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former fracking company chief executive, confirmed this week that his administration is "updating" the vanished reports. The move represents an unprecedented erasure of scientific evidence from the public record during a period of accelerating climate impacts across the United States.
Since 2000, the National Climate Assessment has served as America's definitive synthesis of climate science. Drawing on federal agencies and hundreds of external researchers, these congressionally mandated reports have guided everything from where cities build seawalls to how schools protect children from extreme heat.
The great deletion
The websites vanished without warning, links, or alternative sources. Local governments, emergency responders, farmers, and private companies that had relied on these reports for decades suddenly found themselves cut off from information they use to plan infrastructure, prepare for disasters, and protect communities.
In April, the administration had already dismissed 400 scientists working on the next assessment. The group included leading researchers, economists, tribal leaders, and experts from non-profit organisations who had volunteered years of their time.
"This is a government resource paid for by the taxpayer to provide information that really is the primary source for any city, state or federal agency trying to prepare for climate impacts," said Katharine Hayhoe, a Texas Tech climate scientist who has authored several editions.
Real-world impact
These aren't abstract academic papers. The reports have shaped critical decisions across America. Governors and mayors have used them to decide whether to raise roads and build seawalls. Hospitals moved generators from basements to roofs based on flood projections. Schools developed heat protection plans for children.
The most recent 2023 edition included an interactive atlas allowing anyone to see how climate change would affect their neighbourhood. Water utilities planned for drought, whilst emergency services prepared for extreme weather.
Harvard climate scientist John Holdren, President Obama's former science adviser, described the reports as indispensable: "Not having the NCA is like driving a car with a dirty windshield. It's hard to detect risks until they unfold as disasters."
Enter the climate deniers
The administration hasn't simply removed reports. It's actively replacing them with climate denial. In July, the Department of Energy released an alternative report questioning whether heat records are increasing and extreme weather is worsening.
The document took just two months to produce, compared to years for the National Climate Assessments. It was written by five researchers known for rejecting climate science, with no peer review process.
Scientists whose work was cited in the new report say their research was misrepresented. Key context about climate science developments was stripped away, leaving misleading impressions about the state of knowledge.
"The fact that this administration has buried the gold standard for climate science whilst lifting up a report filled with misrepresentations is a grim historical marker," said one researcher.
Scientists fight back
The scientific establishment is mobilising against what many see as an assault on evidence-based governance. The National Academy of Sciences has launched a comprehensive review, whilst climate researchers prepare detailed rebuttals to the administration's reports.
"We want to get all the science into the public record, so that any debate will have access to solid science," said Andy Dessler of Texas A&M University, who is organising the response.
Two major Earth science societies announced they would produce independent reports to fill the gap. But these efforts lack the federal coordination and resources that made the original assessments so comprehensive and authoritative.
Legal limbo
The Global Change Research Act of 1990 requires the government to deliver climate assessments to Congress every four years. The administration appears to be violating this mandate.
The White House claims the information will be housed within NASA, but searches of NASA websites turn up nothing. The agency hasn't responded to information requests. Legal experts suggest this could trigger court challenges, as happened when the Bush administration delayed reports in 2008.
Beyond climate science
This extends far beyond disagreement over climate policy. The systematic erasure of scientific evidence from government records sets a dangerous precedent for how future administrations might handle inconvenient research findings.
America increasingly stands alone in rejecting climate science. Multiple independent research programmes worldwide continue documenting accelerating impacts. Even within the United States, renewable energy dominates new power generation, suggesting market forces may prove more powerful than federal denial.
As Katharine Hayhoe warned, removing these reports is like painting over a windscreen whilst navigating a dangerous curve: "Now, more than ever, we need to be looking ahead to make it safely around that curve."
The question isn't just about climate policy. It's whether democratic institutions designed to inform citizens with facts can survive sustained assault from leaders who find those facts politically inconvenient. The answer may determine the future relationship between science and governance in America.