Noaa to Stop Tracking Climate Disaster Costs: 'Major Loss'

“From 1980 to 2024, the United States has suffered 403 weather and climate disasters with total damages/costs equal to or greater than 1 billion dollars: the total cost of these 403 events exceeds 2,915 billion dollars”. This is the information that opens the website of the Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters , a service provided by Noaa , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Well: from now on, this data will no longer be updated. At the top of the web page, a disclaimer on a red background has appeared for a few hours: “In line with evolving priorities, statutory obligations and personnel changes, the National Centers for Environmental Information of the Note will no longer update the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product”. This is yet another consequence of Trump's axe that has fallen on US scientific institutions.

In the case of the very authoritative (until a few months ago) Noaa, the climate denialism of the federal administration and the cuts to public spending wanted through Musk are added. Therefore, the costs of meteorological disasters fueled by the climate crisis, including floods, heat waves, forest fires and more, will no longer be monitored.

The database pulled information from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance records, insurance organizations, state agencies and other sources to estimate overall losses from individual disasters. The sabotage of NOAA parallels that of FEMA : just yesterday, the Washington Post reported how the agency's director Cameron Hamilton was removed after saying that the agency should not be abolished. The reference was to Donald Trump , who had recently suggested dismantling it.

The earthquake that is overwhelming Noaa and Fema threatens to have severe consequences for Americans affected by extreme events. Assessing their economic impact is crucial, given the increase in insurance premiums, especially in communities most prone to floods, storms and fires.

In the US and other Western countries, the climate crisis has already devastated the insurance industry , with homeowners facing a surge in policies . The Financial Times reports that the UK has just seen a record number of home insurance claims following storm damage , with more than £100m in the eighth consecutive quarter. So who will monitor climate damage in the US? Private databases exist, but they are more limited in scope and would likely not be as transparently disclosed as NOAA has in the past.