The U.S. National Climate Assessment Must Stay on Track — Our Future Depends on It

Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it is a present and accelerating crisis reshaping every facet of life. Decades of rigorous, peer-reviewed science leave no room for doubt that human-driven climate change is fueling more extreme weather, endangering lives and disrupting economies.

In 2024 alone, the United States faced 27 disasters that resulted in more than $1 billion each in losses and claimed more than 550 lives, from Hurricane Helene that ripped across the Southeast to the massive wildfire that destroyed 11,000 homes in Southern California just months later. These are not isolated events—they are part of a growing pattern that demands urgent, informed action.

In the face of these challenges, knowledge is our first line of defense. The U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA) is a vital, congressionally mandated scientific report that offers a clear-eyed, evidence-based analysis of how climate change is impacting our environment, economy, health and security. The NCA, which is supposed to be completed every four years as required by law, is based on the scholarship of hundreds of scientists and undergoes an extensive review by the National Academy of Sciences.

The U.S. Global Change Research Program is responsible for producing the Assessment and was initiated by President Reagan in response to a growing need for the United States to address environmental challenges. The Trump Administration’s actions terminating the contract supporting the program and the Assessment jeopardizes the next report scheduled for completion in 2027.

The Assessment process is scientifically rigorous and requires appropriate resources and support so that it can increase American capacity to understand and respond to the escalating risks posed by climate change. The actions taken this week by the Administration severely compromise that process and are a concerning signal that the Assessment itself will not remain rigorous, objective and actionable.

The NCA is essential not only for federal, state, and local policymakers, but also for public health officials and businesses across sectors such as agriculture, energy, transportation, and tourism—providing the critical information needed to act with urgency and foresight.

The Administration must allow work on the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment to continue without obstruction. It must ensure full funding, respect the scientific process, and protect the integrity of the final report from political interference—our future depends on it.

No government can alter the fundamental fact that climate change is real and poses an immediate threat to lives, economies, and ecosystems around the world—no funding cuts or political spin can erase that. And without science to guide us, no government can hope to meet the immense challenges climate change brings to its people and their future. We need the National Climate Assessment to light the way forward.