Ex-NOAA scientist leads Miami protest against Trump cuts to hurricane research
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Miami hurricane experts say they fear federal cuts to weather research and forecasting could put local communities at risk this hurricane season.
- Whether in a viral TV clip, a guest essay for the New York Times or at an upcoming protest in Miami, South Florida weather experts are sounding the alarm about cuts to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Why it matters: NOAA's National Weather Service, a target of staffing cuts from the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, is forecasting an above-average hurricane season.
- The season, which started Sunday and runs through Nov. 30, is forecast to bring six to ten hurricanes.
What they're saying: John Cortinas, the former deputy assistant administrator for science at NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, is helping organize a protest Sunday at Maurice A. Ferré Park against proposed cuts at NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
- Cortinas, whose former department is proposed to be eliminated, tells Axios that the move would kill ongoing work advancing extreme weather forecast capabilities.
- OAR staffers from the Miami laboratory fly with hurricane hunter aircraft to collect observations for improved forecasts, he says.
- The hurricane forecasting models that meteorologists use today were developed in the Miami laboratory, he said.
- "The forecast you get today is the forecast you will get going forward in the future, but it will not be improved [if OAR is defunded]," he says.
Between the lines: Beyond improving weather radar and forecasts, OAR staff monitor local coral reefs and study ocean samples to aid climate change research, he says.
Threat level: Weather experts worry that we're heading into a hurricane season with uncertainty over the forecasting and emergency response resources the nation has at its disposal.
- The proposed budget would impose a 28% cut to NOAA's operations, research and facilities staff — including defunding the OAR office, The Hill reported.
- The proposal also cuts federal assistance at FEMA by 32%, the outlet reported.
- The National Weather Service — which provides weather forecasts — has already seen about 600 jobs cut, including 40% shortages at the Miami and Key West offices, a representative of the NWS Employees Organization told Reuters.
- NWS is struggling to maintain its 24/7 staffing, and weather balloon flights have been reduced.
Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist and storm surge expert for WPLG, wrote in a New York Times guest essay that cuts to NWS increase the risk of weather going undetected and the public not being warned about possible dangers.
- Defunding OAR, he added, would "unplug" advanced hurricane forecasting models needed for hard-to-track storms that intensify rapidly.
- "Without them, forecasters like me are flying a plane in the clouds with no navigation system. It's a recipe for disaster."