Reports on climate change effect on US disappear from federal websites

The legally mandated assessments seem to have disappeared from federal websites built to display them, making it harder for state and local governments and the public to learn what to expect in their backyards from a warming world.

Websites for the national assessments and the US Global Change Research Program were down Monday and Tuesday with no links, notes or referrals elsewhere. 

 

Searches on NASA websites did not turn them up. NASA did not respond to requests for information. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which coordinated the information in the assessments, did not respond to repeated inquiries.

The White House, which was responsible for the assessments, said the information will be housed within NASA to comply with the law, but gave no further details. 

 

Scientists say the peer-reviewed authoritative reports save money and lives.

It's critical for decision makers across the country to know what the science in the National Climate Assessment is, University of Arizona climate scientist Kathy Jacobs, who coordinated the 2014 version of the report, said.