Climate.us Restores Public Access to NOAA Climate Data After Trump-Era Shutdown

Former NOAA staff launched Climate.us in June 2026, replicating Climate.gov’s dashboard, archives, blogs, maps, and classroom resources.

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In May 2025 President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14303, “Restoring Gold Standard Science.” By June 2025 the order was used to close Climate.gov, redirecting users to NOAA.gov with a notice that future research products would be moved. The site had drawn nearly one million monthly visitors in 2021.

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Rebecca Lindsey, former Climate.gov program director, leads Climate.us. NOAA Communications Director Kim Doster issued the agency’s redirect statement. Climate scientists Katharine Hayhoe (Texas Tech University) and Gretchen Gehrke of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) have publicly supported the effort. About 80 volunteer scientists serve on a review panel, and the project receives backing from EDGI and an anonymous donor.

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Climate.us raised $280,000 through crowdsourcing, including $250,000 from 2,500 small donors. An anonymous grant will sustain operations through February 2027. The site aims to fill the gap left by Climate.gov’s disappearance, which had served one million users per month.

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NOAA reiterated the redirect, citing compliance with Executive Order 14303. The White House’s June 2025 memorandum framed the removal as a quality-control step under the “Gold Standard Science” policy. Climate.us says it will remain nonpartisan and focus solely on scientific data. In late June 2026 the White House reversed a plan to withdraw six ocean-monitoring buoys.

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EDGI’s Gehrke warned of a “quiet discontinuation” of climate data under the Trump administration, noting that scientists may lack essential information. Lindsey argued that the ease of Climate.gov’s removal shows the need for a platform insulated from political shifts.

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• “This information is too important. It should remain in a protected place,” — Rebecca Lindsey, Managing Director, Climate.us

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• “They're really helping people connect what's happening at the global scale to how it matters to their lives,” — Katharine Hayhoe, Climate scientist, Texas Tech University

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• “I think what it did was take this huge amount of climate data that we have and make it much, much more accessible for the public and for policymakers,” — Gretchen Gehrke, Science communicator, Environmental Data & Governance Initiative

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• “We are still not in a position to know what data is even being collected,” — Gretchen Gehrke, EDGI

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Climate.us plans to broaden data pathways and educational tools while debating whether to serve as a temporary safeguard until a future administration restores a government portal. The recent buoy-removal reversal suggests heightened scrutiny of federal climate-data decisions, potentially cementing Climate.us as a long-term independent repository.

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