Significant staff and budget cuts across multiple federal agencies in the United States ordered by President Donald Trump including marine-related government agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Coast Guard have the potential to directly impact not only the safety of recreational boaters but also long-term weather and climate research.

Published 4 days ago, updated 3 days ago

Source:  BoatUS

Of the significant staff cuts across multiple federal agencies ordered by the Trump administration shortly after his January inauguration including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others, none will more directly affect recreational boaters going into the spring/summer boating season (in the USA and Caribbean) than the some-800 staff members dismissed at NOAA in February says BoatUS*.

Among those fired included meteorologists, computer storm-modeling engineers and hurricane hunter pilots who fly into storms to collect meteorological data. NOAA’s website states that more than half of its 12,000 personnel are scientists and engineers. There are 122 National Weather Service forecast offices across the nation.

“A lot of offices are understaffed already, so there’s potential for forecasts and storm warnings to get less reliable,” former NOAA Acting Administrator Timothy Gallaudet told BoatU.S. Magazine. Gallaudet also served as Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere during the first Trump administration and is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral with a doctorate in oceanography. A boater himself, he says rapidly developing potent summer storms are of great concern to him. He explains that, when a morning forecast for a chance of afternoon thunderstorms progresses to a severe thunderstorm watch and then a warning (meaning the storm is imminent), it means that NOAA scientists are interpreting the meteorological data and issuing those watches and warnings. “At understaffed offices, there’s an increased chance of a warning being missed,” he says. “That’s where the boater has to be worried about finding themselves in a possible life-threatening situation.”

Devastation for Weather and Climate Research

According to an April report by CNN, the Trump administration intends to eliminate the research arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, close all weather and climate labs and eviscerate its budget along with several other NOAA offices, according to internal documents obtained by CNN.

The documents describe the administration’s budget proposal for 2026, but indicate the administration expects the agency to enact the changes immediately.

The cuts would devastate weather and climate research as weather is becoming more erratic, extreme and costly. It would cripple the US industries — including agriculture — that depend on free, accurate weather and climate data and expert analysis. It could also halt research on deadly weather, including severe storms and tornadoes.

*BoatUS says it is the largest advocacy, services, and safety group for recreational boaters with more than 725,000 dues-paying members who rely on a number of services provided by NOAA agencies such as the National Weather Service (NWS), National Ocean Services (NOS), and the National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS).

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Related News:

• How Massive Cuts to NOAA Could Impact Everything From Weather Apps to National Security (Inside Climate News)
• BoatUS Raises Concerns about DOGE Defunding of NOAA (Latitude 38)
• US Agency that Monitors Weather to Cut another 1000 jobs (AP News)
• Warning about DOGE Weather Forecasting Cuts (Newsweek)

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