How federal job cuts at NOAA could affect weather forecasts and climate research

Weather forecasts and climate research could be threatened by the recent Trump administration job cuts at federal agencies.

The National Weather Service and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, cut hundreds of jobs in late February.

And NOAA is tasked with cutting an additional 10 percent of its workforce, according to PBS NewsHour. If those cuts move forward, nearly 20 percent of NOAA’s 13,000-person workforce would be eliminated.

Fewer workers could mean less data that meteorologists and climate researchers depend on to plan and keep people safe when severe weather hits.

MPR News host Angela Davis and her guest talk about how this could affect Minnesotans.

Guest:

• Paul Douglas is a meteorologist with 50 years of broadcast television and radio experience. He provides daily print and online weather services for the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s also worked at KARE 11 and WCCO in the Twin Cities. And he is the founder and president of Praedictix, a company that produces daily weather reports for web sites, newspapers, cable channels and TV broadcasters.