Former NOAA Climate.gov Team Launches Independent Site

Former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have launched an independent website, Climate.us, to preserve and continue providing public access to climate science resources. Rebecca Lindsey, the former lead writer and editor of NOAA's Climate.gov, expressed concern when the site was shut down by the Trump administration last February, along with the elimination of its supporting staff. The closure was reportedly to comply with an executive order on "restoring gold standard science."

Lindsey and her former colleagues met to discuss ways to safeguard their work, which had served as a valuable resource for teachers, community leaders, and policymakers. The original Climate.gov also provided researchers with insights into public understanding and concerns regarding climate science. The decision was made to create an independent version of the site, which launched late last month under a non-governmental domain.

The new Climate.us aims not only to archive the content from the original NOAA site but also to actively update it with new visuals, explanations, features, and Q&A sections. The goal is to keep climate science relevant and accessible, with resources vetted by scientists. Lindsey stated that the team continuously monitors scientific consensus to identify important topics for explanation and discussion.

Since its launch two weeks prior to the report, Climate.us has garnered approximately 800,000 page views. This figure is notable, as the original NOAA site had been averaging about one million views per month, according to Lindsey. The initiative underscores a commitment to ensuring continued public engagement with climate science information.