Science is under attack

Science is under attack in the United States.

Climate science is a target.

Data is under attack. Since January 2025, over 8,000 web pages and approximately 3000 datasets have been removed or modified.[1] For example, a tool for screening and mapping environmental justice was removed from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website. Searching for the EJScreen leads you to a message that the page does not exist.[2] On other websites, information is preserved, but is more difficult to find or pared down or altered.[3]

Workers are under attack, including scientists. It’s been reported that since early March, over 100,000 workers have been fired from federal agencies, including about 3,400 from the Forest Service, 1,800 from Energy, 750 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,100 from National Institutes of Health (NIH), 1,000 from National Park Service.[4] The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was told to cut another 1,000 workers, following hundreds of earlier job terminations the previous month. Because of staffing shortages, fewer NOAA weather balloons are launching, so that less atmospheric data is being collected to use for tracking storms and modeling climate change.[5]

Scientific funding is under attack. Grants from the National Science Foundation and other institutions have been frozen or paused.[6] Universities and colleges are facing decreased federal support for research, as federal grants and contracts are halted and as new NIH rules lower the reimbursement rate for overhead costs. This is translating into hiring freezes and smaller graduate student programs. Most impacted are early career scientists and graduate students, who represent the future of science in the US.[7]

Another more subtle attack involves censorship and silencing. Government agencies have flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid, including “clean energy,” “climate crisis,” and “climate science.”[8] US scientists now need permission to talk to co-researchers in Canada. NOAA staff have to get senior review on all international engagements including virtual meetings and emails, if they touch on climate or other triggers.[9] Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor, was barred from attending and co-chairing a recent meeting of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) authors. US government scientists were told to stop working on the global climate IPCC report.[10]

One thing to remember is that the facts of climate change are not affected by these chaotic disruptions. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the cumulative greenhouse gases continue to blanket and warm the Earth. Humans are responsible for global warming. The facts remain the same.

There are a few hopeful notes. Data is being preserved by organizations and websites such as the End of Term Web Archive and the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.[11] The environmental justice EJScreen tool mentioned above is again available, through a reconstruction released by Public Environmental Data Partners.[12] Some of the people who were fired have been asked to return. Multiple lawsuits are making their ways through courts, to counter staff dismissals and the withholding of federal funds. And the US is only one part of the global response to climate change. Other nations, institutions, and scientists will step forward to fill gaps left by the US.

The ‘Stand Up For Science’ protest was planned by five young scientists. “On March 7, 2025, we rally to defend science as a public good and pillar of social, political, and economic progress,” their website says.[13] Their policy goals are to end censorship and political interference in science, to secure and expand scientific funding, and to defend diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in science.[14] They acknowledge that threats to science extend beyond borders and welcome a broader conversation about the role of science in society.

On March 7th, several thousand people responded to the call and gathered at the main Stand Up For Science rally in Washington, DC. Similar rallies took place across the country and around the world.[15,16] I found a rally to join at Western Washington University, in Washington state. We raised signs proclaiming, “Science is for Everyone,” “Science Saves Lives,” “Facts Not Fiction,” and “Defiance 4 Science.”

We chanted:

From the labs, to the streets

Science research can’t be beat

and

What do we want:  Evidence based research!

When do we want it:  After peer review!

Attacks on funding, workers, and data affect ongoing and future research on climate science as well as other scientific investigations. Attacking climate science means not having evidence-based data to use to develop appropriate policies and interventions, not having the scientific expertise to better understand evolving climate changes, not taking the lead in new green innovations and technologies. We need climate science to build a positive future. Science is under attack, but we can counter the silencing of science by making our voices heard. We can Stand Up For Science! 

REFERENCES

[1] 2025 United States government online resource removals, accessed 9 Mar 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_government_online_resource_removals

[2] Environmental Justice Screen (EJScreen), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, accessed 10 Mar 2025. https://www.epa.gov/EJScreen

[3] Disappearing data: Trump administration removing climate information from government websites. Ed by R Santarsiero, 6 Feb 2025. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/climate-change-transparency-project-foia/2025-02-06/disappearing-data-trump

[4] Tracking Trump’s overhaul of the federal workforce. A Choi et al, 6 Mar 2025

https://www.cnn.com/politics/tracking-federal-workforce-firings-dg/index.html

[5] As NOAA braces for more cuts, scientists say public safety is at risk. A Kemp, 14 Mar 2025. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/as-noaa-braces-for-more-cuts-scientists-say-public-safety-is-at-risk

[6] Outcry as Trump withdraws support for research that mentions ‘climate’. O Milman, 21 Feb 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/21/trump-scientific-research-climate

[7] As Trump goes after universities, students are now on the chopping block. S Saul, 6 Mar 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/politics/trump-university-funding-grad-student-cuts.html

[8] These words are vanishing in a ‘free speech’ administration. K Yourish, et al, 7 Mar 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/07/us/trump-federal-agencies-websites-words-dei.html

[9] Scientists at US weather forecasting agency ordered to get clearance before talking to Canadian counterparts. J Bernstein, 18 Feb 2025. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/trump-american-scientists-international-engagements-1.7461238

[10] Trump bars federal scientists from working on pivotal global climate report. E Nilsen & L Paddison, 21 Feb 2025 https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/21/climate/trump-blocks-scientists-ipcc/index.html

[11] Watchdog groups anticipate ‘an all-out war on science and scientists’ by the Trump administration. B Berwyn, 31 Jan 2025 https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31012025/trump-administration-war-on-science/

[12] EPA removes EJScreen from its website. 12 Feb 2025. https://envirodatagov.org/epa-removes-ejscreen-from-its-website/

[13] Why we organized ‘Stand Up For Science.’ L Berntsen, E Courtney, C Delawalla, JP Flores, S Goldstein, & C Payne, 10 Mar 2025. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02146-0

[14] Our policy goals. Stand Up For Science 2025. https://standupforscience2025.org/our-policy-goals/

[15] Science, politics and anxiety mix at rally under Lincoln Memorial. A Burdick, 10 Mar 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/science/march-for-science-trump-protest.html

[16] Taking it to the streets: scientists mobilize to fight Trump’s ‘unprecedented’ anti-science agenda. L Gross et al, 7 Mar 2025. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07032025/stand-up-for-science-rallies-against-trump-anti-science-agenda/