Trump Admin Halts Arctic Report Card
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- NOAA withdrew support for the 2026 Arctic Report Card, halting coordination of the long-running environmental assessment without explanation.
- Kim Doster, NOAA’s communications director, confirmed that while NOAA will continue collecting and sharing Arctic data, it will no longer facilitate the report’s production.
- Rick Thoman, lead editor of the 2025 report, said efforts are underway to publish a 2026 edition despite the late disruption, though success remains uncertain.
- Twila Moon, a report editor and scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, emphasized the U.S. is an Arctic nation and warned the move undermines national leadership in environmental science.
- Rick Spinrad, former NOAA administrator under Biden, called the decision 'really unconscionable' and stressed the report’s critical role in infrastructure and community planning in Alaska.
Why it matters: The U.S. loses a centralized, authoritative source for tracking Arctic change—impacting Alaskan communities, infrastructure planners, and scientists who rely on synthesized federal data. The abrupt withdrawal disrupts two decades of consistent monitoring, forcing researchers to scramble for alternatives without guaranteed continuity or funding.
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