MILES PARKS, HOST:
The Trump administration has halted work on the National Climate Assessment. The report is the most trusted source of information about how climate change affects the United States. Rebecca Hersher from NPR's climate desk is here to tell us more. Hi, Rebecca.
REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE: Hi.
PARKS: So tell us a little bit about why this report exists in the first place.
HERSHER: Yeah, so, Congress actually requires this report. So going back to the 1990s, the federal government has published a new version every five years or so. You know, the last one came out in 2023. The next one was supposed to come out in 2027, but that's basically impossible now because the Trump administration has cut the funding.
PARKS: OK. And so who relies on this report? Who uses it?
HERSHER: You know, it's a really big range of people 'cause it has answers to really kind of basic, common questions, you know, stuff like - how much rain is normal for where I live? - or - how quickly is the ocean rising? Stuff like, how can I protect myself from wildfire smoke? You know, things that a lot of different kinds of people need to know. And unlike other government reports, it's mostly written in really simple language. It's designed so anyone can use it. So I've talked to teachers, farmers, judges who use it, a lot of local mayors and city planners, fire department officials and emergency managers. They all rely on this report. It's just really widely used.
PARKS: And this next edition, it was scheduled to come out in 2027, but I imagine that people were already working on it, considering the depth of information that's in there.
HERSHER: Yeah, exactly - hundreds of scientists, actually, and they're all volunteers. They don't get paid. But there are a couple dozen staff people who help the scientists. You know, they set up Zoom meetings. They enforce deadlines. Everything that the authors write has to be reviewed by other scientists and by the public before the report comes out to make sure it's right. The staff coordinate all of that work. And the funding for all of those staff was eliminated, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the cuts. And those officials asked that I not use their names because they're afraid of retribution as federal workers.
PARKS: OK, so talk me through the impacts here, considering all these different groups of people who have traditionally relied on this report. What is it going to mean if it just doesn't come out in 2027?
HERSHER: You know, there would be a lot of local effects first, you know, for example, when towns are making decisions about where to put new roads or where to build homes. Those are decisions that require climate information. You know, otherwise your road ends up flooding during high tide, your homes end up threatened by wildfire, and the federal government is the main source of that climate information for most parts of the U.S., particularly for smaller communities and for rural areas that really can't compile this kind of scientific information on their own. You know, if you're a big city, you might have your own source, but if you're a smaller place, this report is the place. And there are also some pretty big kind of unexpected impacts that could show up in the courtroom if this report doesn't come out.
PARKS: In the courtroom - how does the National Climate Assessment get used in the courtroom?
HERSHER: It's actually a really useful document for judges and juries who are ruling on environmental cases. So remember, this is the most trusted single source of climate information for the U.S. And so it's actually the basis for some pretty big regulations, like federal limits on emissions of, you know, planet-warming gases, carbon dioxide and methane, things that cause climate change. So I've talked to some legal experts and to climate scientists who are concerned that if the next edition of the report doesn't come out, or an alternative scenario would be that the Trump administration might put out a version that hasn't been through a rigorous scientific review, then some of those regulations could be challenged in court and could even be overturned, which could lead to even more warming. Now, I reached out to the White House to ask about its reasons for halting work on the Climate Assessment and about its plans for the report. I did not get a response, but last week, the president did suggest that upcoming executive orders could target other environmental topics as well.
PARKS: NPR climate reporter Rebecca Hersher - thank you, Rebecca.
HERSHER: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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