Disasters

"Forecasters with the National Weather Service were among those who lost their jobs, raising questions about the service’s ability to continue providing the free, accurate, up-to-the minute information on potential hazards like heat waves, blizzards, tornadoes and hurricanes that is critical to industries such as agriculture and aviation, as well as the weather reports the general public relies on."

"Crews battled wildfires in North and South Carolina on Sunday amid dry conditions and gusty winds as residents were forced to evacuate in some areas."

"President Donald Trump, who pledged to send up to 100,000 federal workers outside of Washington, could move quickly to eject energy and environmental agencies from the nation’s capital."

"A federal hold on funding could upend a novel approach to preventing mosquitoes from sending a number of Hawaiian bird species into extinction."

"Hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration employees on probationary status were fired Thursday, lawmakers and weather experts said. Federal workers who were not let go said the afternoon layoffs included meteorologists who do crucial local forecasts in National Weather Service offices across the country."

"In a few short weeks, President Trump has severely damaged the government’s ability to fight climate change, upending American environmental policy with moves that could have lasting implications for the country, and the planet. With a flurry of actions that have stretched the limits of presidential power, Mr. Trump has gutted federal climate efforts, rolled back regulations aimed at limiting pollution and given a major boost to the fossil fuel industry."

"Scientists have finally given the all-clear to Earth from a newly discovered asteroid. After two months of observations, scientists have almost fully ruled out any threat from the asteroid 2024 YR4, NASA and the European Space Agency said Tuesday."

"More than half of the senior executives at a key US government regulatory body responsible for overseeing safety of the US pipeline system will depart the agency in the next three months, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg."

"The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science."