Climate Data Rescued: The Rebirth of Climate.gov
Former employees rebuilt the climate portal shut down by the Trump administration.
1The collapse of a public service
NOAA's climate data portal Climate.gov was shut down in 2017 due to budget cuts by the Trump administration. This decision removed 15 years of critical climate data from public access. The portal housed US national climate assessment reports and educational materials.
2Three women's resistance
Laid-off NOAA employees Rebecca Lindsey, her sister Mary Lindsey, and colleague Anna Eshelman launched Climate.us. Using public domain data, the team rebuilt the original site's functions. The project rescued documents at risk of deletion, including the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
3The power of open data
US laws classify government data as public property, allowing the team to access NOAA archives. This saved climate maps, glacier measurements, and oral histories from indigenous communities about climate change impacts. All data was shared under Creative Commons licenses.
4Interactive climate dashboard
The new platform features dynamic charts showing Arctic ice cover changes over years. Educator resource kits aim to improve climate literacy. The data gallery hosts critical time series for researchers studying climate patterns.
5A donation-funded archive
Climate.us operates entirely on donations without government support. Crowdfunding campaigns cover server costs and volunteer expenses. This highlights how fragile public data access can become when institutional backing disappears.
6Data transparency for democracy
This initiative created a resistance model against government censorship of public information. Climate data access remains vital for evidence-based policymaking. The project demonstrates how civil society can protect critical digital public infrastructure when governments fail.
Original article: Hacker News — İklim verileri kurtarıldı: Climate.gov'un yeniden doğuşu