Climate change

New Republic - As temperatures rise, wildly expensive disasters are becoming increasingly common. Through the 1980s, the United States experienced roughly three weather events per year that cost upward of a billion dollars. Over the last five years, the annual average was 24. Scientists and nonprofits are now rushing to stockpile federal climate and weather data, fearful that the administration could soon erase it entirely. That information—and the ability to reliably collect and interpret it moving forward—isn’t of interest only to researchers and green groups. 

Whether it comes directly from federal websites or through proprietary climate risk modeling, climate and weather data is foundational to how governments, investors, and corporations understand the future and plan to navigate it. NOAA, NASA, and other federal agencies provide the information that helps cities decide how high to build bridges and even the credit ratings that determine whether corporations and governments can finance new building projects. Federal climate data helps insurance companies determine how much to charge homeowners for new or renewed policies. The system by which all that data gets translated onto balance sheets and monthly bills was already flawed, lacking adequate accountability and coordination. As the White House declares war on climate policy, it could break down entirely.