By Megha Rawat
In a concerning development, several key websites hosting legally required US national climate assessments have gone offline, cutting off access to critical climate data for policymakers, planners and the public across the country. According to the Associated Press, the websites for the National Climate Assessments and the US Global Change Research Program were offline on Monday and Tuesday, with no notices, links, or redirects provided. The sudden disappearance has raised concerns about transparency, public access to scientific data and the potential risks for communities confronting growing climate challenges. According to University of Arizona climate scientist Kathy Jacobs, who coordinated the 2014 version of the report, said, “It’s a sad day for the United States if it is true that the National Climate Assessment is no longer available.” “This is evidence of serious tampering with the facts and with people’s access to information, and it actually may increase the risk of people being harmed by climate-related impacts,” he added. Why Were The Websites Down? The White House confirmed on Tuesday that the information was being moved to NASA to meet legal requirements. However, attempts to locate the assessments on NASA’s websites yielded no results Dead links and outdated references have taken the place of interactive tools and county-level data that once served as vital planning resources for local officials nationwide. NASA and NOAA — the agencies formerly tasked with hosting and coordinating the information — have not responded to multiple inquiries from the Associated Press. No official timeline has been provided for the removal of the websites. The latest report, released in 2023, included an interactive atlas with county-level detail. It revealed that climate change is impacting people’s security, health and livelihoods nationwide in varied ways, with minority and Native American communities often facing the greatest risks. The Global Change Research Act of 1990 mandates a national climate assessment every four years and requires the president to create an interagency US Global Change Research Program. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from US News and around the World.