🕒 Last updated on July 3, 2025
A Key Climate Website Goes Dark
On Monday, the Trump administration took down a major U.S. government website that provided scientific reports and information on climate change. The site, called globalchange.gov, was run by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. It had served as a public hub for hundreds of reports and data about how global warming is affecting the country.
The website was created under a law passed in 1990. That law requires the government to release a National Climate Assessment every four years. These reports explain how rising temperatures, changing rainfall, droughts, and heat waves affect American life.
Before being taken down, the site hosted five versions of the National Climate Assessment. It also featured educational videos, charts, podcasts, and more than 200 research documents. These explained how climate change impacts farming, health, and the Arctic.
Now, all of this content is gone from the live site. Some of it can still be found through an online archive called the Wayback Machine. But that tool is harder for everyday people to use.
Scientists Warn of Public Access Loss
Experts who work in climate science said the website shutdown is a serious setback. They explained that the reports were paid for by U.S. taxpayers and should remain available to the public. The information is important for everyone—from farmers to business owners—to understand climate risks in their areas.
The site helped explain how climate change affects people’s homes, food, water, and even insurance costs. It also offered easy-to-use tools like an interactive map showing local climate changes. Without the website, people may find it much harder to access this knowledge.
The law that created the research program also requires that these reports be available online for all government agencies and the public. Taking down the site breaks with this goal of open access.
Climate Science Team Dismissed
Earlier this year, the Trump administration also let go of hundreds of scientists and experts. These people had started work on the next version of the National Climate Assessment. With them gone, the future of that report is unclear.
In April, a small message appeared at the top of the site saying the program’s operations were “under review.” Then in July, the website was completely taken offline. The homepage had previously highlighted the Fifth National Climate Assessment as “the preeminent source” for information on climate risks in the U.S.
This move is not the first of its kind. The administration also removed another climate-focused website called climate.gov. That site was managed by NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was filled with climate data and tools used by scientists, students, and local planners. Today, that website redirects visitors to a more general NOAA page, which has less detailed information.
Funding Cuts and Site Closures
Along with shutting down websites, the Trump administration has also reduced funding for the U.S. Global Change Research Program. This funding supported the writing of climate reports and sharing of scientific data.
While the administration has said it wants to improve science standards, it has also claimed past climate reports used “worst-case” predictions. As a result, officials now question the need for some of these climate resources.
Many scientists believe that closing down these websites and cutting funds will harm efforts to prepare for extreme weather. Without clear, reliable data, it becomes much harder for communities to plan for floods, wildfires, or heat waves.
Until now, globalchange.gov gave the public tools to understand how climate change impacts their daily lives. That resource has now been removed, and with it, access to important, science-based information.