Gosh, That's Too Bad, Florida: Cuts To NOAA Mean Firing Miami-Based Hurricane Scientists And Climate Researchers

[hatrack]

Oh well.

Hurricane and climate researchers in Miami were hit in the latest wave of cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.The mass layoffs from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — more than 600, according to the former agency head — include at least one high-profile meteorologist in Miami and another charged with integrating artificial intelligence into climate and weather predictions.

“Every office in NOAA was hit by these indiscriminate, misguided, ill-intentioned reforms,” said Rick Spinrad, former director of NOAA under President Joe Biden, in a press conference Friday afternoon.Spinrad said the cuts, especially of researchers who collect data that feeds into storm models, could erode the quality of hurricane forecasts going forward. “It’s not clear the planes will be able to fly and the ships will be able to go to sea, certainly not at the tempo we saw before,” he said.

“The quality of the forecast is likely to go down to some degree.”On Thursday afternoon, some NOAA staffers began posting on social media that they got “the email” and lost their jobs as part of President Donald Trump’s bid to slash staffing in the federal government. Andrew Hazelton, an assistant scientist with the Miami-based Hurricane Research Division, was among them.“I don’t want to make any comments other than I am exploring legal options in a couple of avenues,” he posted on X.Another weather researcher, Zach Lane, also posted on X that he lost his job helping NOAA perfect the use of AI and machine learning in climate and weather predictions.

“After nearly two weeks of overwhelming uncertainty, today it happened. I was fired from my dream of working at NOAA. I’m so sorry to everyone also affected,” he posted. Two sources who were familiar with the matter confirmed another researcher in the Keys National Marine Sanctuary is also leaving, after the longtime scientist took the buyout offered by Musk’s DOGE agency earlier this month. The true scope of the cuts was unclear Friday afternoon.

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https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article301177914.html#storylink=cpy