How to watch: Scientists are hosting a 100-hour livestream to protest Trump cuts
The Trump administration has decimated climate science across the country, from the mass layoffs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the shuttering of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Now, scientists are defending their work, and its value to the country, by speaking directly to Americans through a 100-hour livestream full of presentations on everything from air quality to extreme heat to weather stations.
Beginning Wednesday, May 28 at 1 p.m. ET, the Weather and Climate Livestream will span five days, ending on Sunday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m. ET. It will feature climate scientists and meteorologists who will talk about their work and the impact of research cuts, and take audience questions.
The event kicks off with Kate Marvel, a climate scientist who was formerly an associate researcher at GISS, who will be live streaming the last hours of the GISS lab. That 43,000-square-foot space near Columbia University has been crucial to climate science, but is closing because the Trump administration terminated its lease.
The livestream will also include a panel discussion with terminated NOAA employees—in March, the Trump administration laid off more than 1,000 people—and another with the former directors of the National Weather Service, as well as 'primetime' talks from experts on topics like floods, drought, and hurricanes. Prominent climate scientist Daniel Swain —who often hosts his own virtual 'office hours' on climate news, heat waves, and wildfires—will be participating with an 'Ask Me Anything' session, open to audience questions, on Saturday, May 31 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
The 100-hour Weather and Climate Livestream is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@wclivestream/live. It's billed as a non-partisan event, organized in part by members of the Union of Concerned Scientists. To the participants, it's also an opportunity to try to save America's weather forecasts; the event website includes a link for Americans to contact their representatives and urge them to restore weather and climate funding.
Trump's funding cuts
Scientists, and everyday Americans are already feeling the cuts from the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): The National Weather Service, for example, is already flying fewer weather balloons, which hampered forecasters' ability to get accurate and timely data to the public about recent hail storms and tornadoes. NWS field offices are short staffed and scrambling to have regular coverage.
Hurricane season is also approaching, and is expected to be above-average, with 13 to 19 named storms. Trump's cuts would eliminate climate models that provide accurate forecasting, as well as FEMA services that would help Americans recover from climate disasters.
The administration's cuts would also close multiple research institutions and labs, all six of NOAA's regional climate centers, and end $70 million in grants to research universities. That means thousands of scientists will lose their funding, which translates to less storm forecasting, no more climate monitoring for farmers, and coastal communities without information on things like tides and flood risk.
'For generations, the U.S. government has invested in the science that helps us do so, building one of the greatest meteorology and climate science communities in the world,' the Weather and Climate Livestream website reads. 'In recent months, this community has been thwarted in our mission of serving the public due to substantial cuts and firings.'
But it's not too late to stop those cuts, the livestream organizers note. Already, the Trump administration has walked back some cuts in the face of public pressure—like by reopening shuttered weather data centers. The 100-hour livestream is a way to 'help keep this pressure building,' the site reads.
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