The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that its well -known database of the “weather and climatic disasters” database “will be withdrawn”, a decision that will make it almost impossible for the public to follow the cost of extreme weather and climatic events.
The weather agency, Climate and Oceans also ends other products, he recently announced, largely largely to personnel discounts. The NOAA narrows the range of services it provides, with programs related to the climate examined in particular closely.
The disaster database, which will be archived but which will no longer be updated beyond 2024, has enabled taxpayers, the media and researchers to follow the cost of natural disasters – covering extreme events from hurlings to hailstorms – since 1980. Its declination is another Administration of Trump and the fact of making more time.
The Trump administration was focused on laser on killing programs and the departments associated with “climate”, whether they really follow global warming and its effects.
Some politicians and external experts have said in the past that the database, which shows an increase in disaster losses over time, mainly reflects trends focused on climate change, although the NOAA said on the website: “This product does not focus on the allocation of climatic events.”
Population growth and expansion of development in the manner of damage is considered the dominant factors of the long -term trend. However, the growing occurrence and severity of certain types of extreme weather events, partly due to climate change caused by humans, also amplify some of these events and make them more expensive, have shown studies.
The database aspires information on the losses of the entire insurance sector, among other public and private sources.
According to the database, there have been 403 weather and climatic disasters completely at least $ 1 billion in the United States since 1980, totaling more than 2.945 billions of dollars. As of April 8, there had been no disasters of a billion dollars confirmed so far in 2025, but he lists four events as having the potential to count, including forest fires in the Los Angeles region in January.
In photos: Mortal forest fires in the County of Los Angeles
Between 1980 and 2024, there have been nine disasters of this type on average each year, although during the last five years, this annual average has increased to 24. The one year record was 28 events in 2023.
The disasters of a billion dollars is not easily reproducible, as by a non -profit or private company, as it contained a myriad of non -public data shared with the government by the private industry.
In addition, companies, including insurers, have their own accounts and methodologies which are generally closely kept.
“What makes this resource of a particularly precious value is not only its standardized methodology over the decades, but the fact that it is inspired by sources of proprietary and non-public data (such as estimates of loss of reinsurance, localized government reports and private databases) which are otherwise inaccessible to most researchers”, Jeremy Porter, For emails.
Porter said FIRST Street works in close collaboration with the database.
“Without this, reproducing or prolonging the analyzes of damage trends, in particular regional scales or through the types of dangers, is almost impossible without significant funding or institutional access to commercial disaster models,” he told CNN.
Other data has also shown an increase in natural disaster losses. For example, the SWISS Re reinsurance company reported on April 29 that the loss of global insured in 2025 are underway to reach $ 145 billion, with an annual growth rate of 5% to 7%.
The disaster database is the last victim of layoffs, early pensions and incitement programs aimed at clarifying the agency’s workforce as well as the rest of the federal government. The National Weather Service was particularly affected by staff discounts and has therefore reduced some of its services.
The White House has published plans to make even deeper cuts at the NOAA by eliminating its research division and closing its meteorological and climate laboratories, which would considerably reduce the data that the agency collects and would make available to the public.
The administration budget draft for financial year 2026 would reduce the NOAA expenses by 24% compared to 2025.
