ClimateAdam 
Since President Trump took office in January 2025, he’s declared war on climate change research. In this video, I speak with three expert scientists, who explain how Trump’s attacks on climate researchers, institutions and reports are impacting hitting. These assaults aren’t just a huge deal in the USA, where they limit our ability to forecast extreme weather disasters. But they’ll also affect our ability to be safe from climate extremes the world over – now and in the future.
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==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Intro
0:55 Interviews
1:41 Climate Career Derailed
4:34 Silenced Report
5:58 Pattern of Attacks
7:49 The World’s Problem
9:53 Despair
10:10 Action into Hope
==MORE INFO==
My classic collab with Miriam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLeieEcLVyQ
Nasa GISS kicked out of offices https://www.westsiderag.com/2025/06/04/following-nasas-removal-from-uws-building-textbooks-and-journals-thrown-in-dumpster
EPA attacks https://eos.org/research-and-developments/trump-administration-plans-to-fire-more-than-1000-epa-scientists
NOAA cuts https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/27/politics/noaa-federal-workers-firings
Climate info censored https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/04/trump-climate-change-federal-websites
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/climate-website-shut-down-noaa
Nasa GISS to shut down? https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/05/climate/nasa-giss-lab-turmoil-trump-budget
Public land sales frozen https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/outcry-stops-public-lands-sale-nevada-utah-zion-20340854.php
Solar for All grants unfrozen https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/03/05/u-s-environmental-protection-agency-unfreezes-7-billion-solar-for-all-grant-program/
==CREDITS==
Swiping filmed by Tamy Beyrouti
Typhoon visual from NOAAVisualizations
CO2 simulation from NASA
Historical heating from NASA
Hurricane clips from PressureDrop, Royalty Free – HD Videos – No Copyright, Kanal13, UWSSEC
Wildfire footage Kanal13
Wildfire satellite from NOAASatellites
Chickens clip from MentalOutlaw
Satellite of weather from Astronauticast
Refugee footage from Doctors Without Borders
Border wall footage from Dozer Excavator Work
Community work clips from Port of Tacoma, Lakeland PBS, NationalGuard
source
About The Author
For the full interviews (and to make videos like this possible) head over here: https://www.patreon.com/ClimateAdam – you'll be joining incredible patrons like Reid!
AI Summary
Abstract:
This video critically examines the extensive dismantling of climate research and protective systems under the Trump administration in the United States. Featuring interviews with a PhD student at NASA GISS, a policy director from the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Director of NASA GISS, the video highlights firsthand impacts such as the eviction of NASA GISS offices, the cancellation of the National Climate Assessment, widespread layoffs at environmental agencies like NOAA and EPA, and the scrubbing of climate information from official websites. The speaker underscores the "generational loss" of scientific capacity, the immediate dangers to public safety from degraded weather forecasting, and the global repercussions of diminished U.S. climate data. While acknowledging the overwhelming nature of the situation, the video concludes with a powerful call to action, urging engagement, advocacy, and collective effort as the "silver lining" to rebuild and address climate change.
Dismantling Climate Research: A Generational Loss
* 0:00 A Critical Juncture for the Planet: The video begins by highlighting humanity's rapid approach to climate limits and the visible consequences of inaction. It emphasizes that the Trump administration is actively dismantling essential systems and research designed to protect us, calling it a "generational loss."
* 0:49 Expert Insights on the Crisis: The host, a climate scientist, delves into the dire situation of climate research in the U.S., featuring interviews with three experts directly impacted: Miriam Nielsen (PhD student at NASA GISS), Rachel Cleletus (Policy Director, Union of Concerned Scientists), and Gavin Schmidt (Director, NASA GISS).
* 1:40 NASA GISS Under Threat: Miriam Nielsen, a PhD student researching drought and extreme rain at NASA GISS, reveals that their office space is effectively being "evicted" or rendered empty, severely impacting collaboration and potentially leading to the lab's complete scrapping.
* 3:00 Impact on Climate Researchers' Careers: The uncertainty around climate research funding, including the shuttering of premier grants, is making post-doctoral positions scarce and causing significant mental health stress for PhD students like Miriam.
* 4:35 Cancellation of National Climate Assessment: Rachel Cleletus explains that the Sixth National Climate Assessment, a crucial report mandated by Congress and worked on by over 400 volunteers, was abruptly cancelled without official reason. This action is seen as a deliberate attempt by the administration, beholden to fossil fuel interests, to "bury the science" and replace facts with propaganda.
* 6:11 Broad Assault on U.S. Science: Beyond individual instances, the video outlines a concerted effort to undermine climate understanding: attacks on EPA research, hundreds of layoffs at NOAA, and the removal of climate mentions from official government websites.
* 7:00 Immediate Dangers and Disinformation: These cuts put the public in direct danger by impairing the ability to understand and predict climate events. Degraded weather forecasting from agencies like NOAA poses a direct threat to lives, especially with increasing extreme weather. The administration is also actively spreading disinformation about science.
* 7:44 Global Repercussions: U.S. climate and weather data are utilized globally. Gavin Schmidt warns that the U.S.'s unparalleled scientific research capability, built over 70 years, is under severe threat. Other countries cannot compensate for this loss, leading to tangible impacts like degraded monsoon forecasts in India due to a lack of NOAA data.
* 9:07 Difficulty of Rebuilding: The scientific enterprise is far easier to dismantle than to rebuild, meaning the damage done by the current administration will have long-lasting consequences beyond a single term.
* 9:53 A Call to Action and Hope: Despite the overwhelming nature of the news, the video asserts that people are not helpless. It urges scientists to advocate for their work and the public to communicate how these cuts affect their lives and safety.
* 10:53 Stay Engaged and Informed: It's vital to stay tuned in and pay attention, as many attacks on science occur subtly or via "Friday evening news dumps." Sharing informative content is encouraged.
* 11:31 Humanity as the Silver Lining: The ultimate "silver lining" is humanity itself; as people created the problem, people can solve it. The video emphasizes the choice between a "fortress world" for a privileged few and a more connected community that faces adversity together.
I used gemini-2.5-flash-preview-05-20| input-price: 0.15 output-price: 3.5 max-context-length: 128_000 on rocketrecap dot com to summarize the transcript.
Cost (if I didn't use the free tier): $0.0057
Input tokens: 16175
Output tokens: 925
Strictly speaking, it's the US House of Representatives who are doing the cuts. They are responsible for funding bills. Sad thing is, the US House is now under the control of the religious right, and they are allies with the major industries who are defending their turfs by paying off Congress. Trump is a figure head in all of this, an agent of chaos whose ego demands that he be praised regardless of what he is doing or how bad it is.
Maybe the next species that gains self-awarness will be smarter.
Why so serious?
Thanks for the great work, Adam. Depressing af, it feels like all we can do is watch helplessly. Will share.
I can't believe y'all didn't mention Peter Kalmus of NASA. He has been beating the drum hard for a few years now
none of us are in a bubble and we need to keep our attention turned on the issues and on each other
Adam… I appreciate your work! Keep strong! You give me hope. You see, I am ashamed and embarrassed to be an American (again!… Go figure!) … so I cling to the island of sanity you provide. High vibrations to you, brother. ๐
I think, in the US it has to get worse before it's gettin better. That is so sad. The Trump-Administration spoiled FEMA and NOAA, so it might be really fast.
Can we get a video on native plants and how if we started farming more native crops we can reduce all inputs in the farm including water use.
best tip for scientists in USA at the moment is: try to get a Job in Europe you might earn less money. But you still can do science.
Dear algorithm, please help this video reach the people who need it most. kthxbye
I will keep saying this Gene Roddenberry was right. Humanity will have to make things so bad for itself, the choice is between extinction and change before it will do something. Just a reminder there are no Vulcans coming to save us
Not only is it US policy to get rid of research but also us economic policy is to actively keep other countries addicted to fossil fuels and preventadoption of clean energy production. However bad your thinking it is, its worse.
David Cay Johnston on the Mark Thompson show was say 3.5% of the population for or against something can switch the dial. He says the recent protests missed this goal. So next time there is a protest try to get more of your friends & concerned citizens out there. And if possible working on opposing Trump all day all week all year long. Defeat the Racist, Nazi, Trump.
It's worse. It's not a war on climate. Trump and the whole oligarch class is waging a war on all of humanity.
Adam can you do an update video of ocean acidification? I want to learn are the sea ok right now
Tom Murphy from UCSD wrote a very interesting article 10 years ago on his blog Do the Math about how MB personality types may influence how one perceives the climate threat. Published 4-14-15.
Spoiler… INTJ's rule.
Thanks so much for this super well put-together vid, Adam. Really good (albeit painful) to hear from colleagues in the USA directly. We are already seeing the impacts of these cuts in European climate science, things are tough. Big solidarity to all our US colleagues and thank you for reminding us how important it is to fight back and share evidence-based info ๐
I am sitting at home watching this as I get over the heat sickness I got the other day. Heat is dangerous.
I am so thankful for all of your hard work Adam. We need to be talking about these issues urgently, so that people can make the right decisions (politically or otherwise) – it's with great communicators like you that we can help to get people noticing and caring.
THEY VOTED FOR HIM. HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mother Nature will continue to report adverse weather events regardless of what science denying politicians do. Eventually, even the idiot half of the US will get the picture.
This is what we all need to focus on and i have hope that we elect someone who takes this seriously in 2028. Hopefully we still have time to prevent the worst of climate change.
we are seeing the end of the US empire, there are upsides
One can try silencing the scientists, but what science says, cannot be muzzled.
It'll just keep n getting hotter, drier, more extreme, more unlivable, extremely inhospitable to the kind of civilization we know
Trump was elected by people in voting. People want it, Trump is tool only. Sad.
"Burying the science" is but one aspect of Trump's war on science. At least one other is publicly pillorying the scientists themselves. This has already successfully been done with regard to medical science and is being extended to other fields of knowledge like economics. Orange man is not only bad, but atrocious.
This is the showdown for big oil. They know they are doomed, so they invested in this administration to plunder as much as possible before the end.
And..UK government has decided to spin round and go ahead with drilling for oil and gas. Something they said they would not do…The fossil fuel companies have been pressuring the government with help of far right press. The fossil fuel have won. Madness
Here in the USA, I will have to admit that I have been twice burnt. Back in 1980 we had a budding renewable energy movement and industry. When Ronald Regan became President, he dismantled almost all government renewable energy efforts. So, the same thing is now happening again. The good news is that renewables have made great progress. The bad news is all of the years lost, all the while climate warming continued. Civilizational suicide.
thanks for highlighting how much this sucks! and for giving me the space to vent. ๐
As a US resident, I apologize to all of Nature, the rest of the world, and to all life that will suffer and die because of the current administration. It's horrifying. I can only ask the Earth for forgiveness for what is happening. I'm near 70 and have been involved in the Green Movement since I can remember. My dad, a petro engineer got out of the biz in the '50's because he said oil/gas is destroying the planet. I feel helpless, but we can't give up, it's up to us to save what's left.
I'm not a climate scientists i do however read and research with textbooks about climate science, from what I've seen in don't see a good outcome with what Trump is doing and the co2 levels already in the greenhouse that's built up over the last 100plus years , I'd like to see updateded warming scenario with trump doing what he is
Miriam, welcome to Venezuela
When those in the coastal cities of the US that voted for Trump lose their houses and didn't purchase insurance (likely because of cost) I will remind them that "Elections have Consequences", just like they reminded me. I have distain for Schadenfreude but in this case I will make an exception.
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This is beyond scary….. Struggle to get my head around what they are doing.