Senator Markey Questions NOAA Nominee on Budget Cuts and Climate Data

NOAA's Role in Disaster Data

• 💡 For decades, NOAA has collected and publicly shared data on extreme weather-related disasters causing over a billion dollars in damage.
• 📈 In the 1980s, such disasters occurred every four months on average; now, they happen every three weeks.
• 🗣️ Dr. Jacobs affirmed the importance of making NOAA's data on billion-dollar disasters available to the public.

Trump Administration's Data Policies

• 🚫 The Trump administration announced it would stop burying information on the cost of weather disasters, which Senator Markey argues is an attempt to solve a PR problem.
• ⚠️ Burying weather data is seen as a way to hide the increasing severity of storms.

Climate Research and Budget Cuts

• 🎯 Climate-focused research, data, and grant programs are considered relevant to NOAA's mission of understanding coastal and marine resources.
• 📊 Regional climate data is crucial for developing forecasts used by farmers and small business owners.
• 📉 Dr. Jacobs supports the President's budget, which proposes a 27% cut to NOAA's budget, impacting climate research, weather, sea grant, and ocean labs.
• ⚠️ Senator Markey disagrees, stating that a 27% cut will have a ripple effect and that "weather readiness without funding is a hallucination."

"The Greatest Hoax" Social Media Handle

• ❓ Senator Markey questioned Dr. Jacobs about his social media handle, "@thegreatesthox," referencing Senator Inhofe's book.
• 🎭 Dr. Jacobs explained it was a young man's attempt at wit with no deeper meaning.
• ⚠️ Senator Markey expressed concern that this handle undermines legitimate climate science and those leading on weather and ocean protection.