In the wake of the Trump administration’s deletion of climate data and closure of resources that track the impacts of a warming world, various organizations and independent scientists are stepping up to preserve this crucial information. One such organization, Climate Central, recently revived the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s billion-dollar disaster database, which had been discontinued by the agency in May. The database was a valuable tool for tracking the increasing costs of hurricanes, floods, and other disasters, providing essential information for policymakers, insurers, and the public.
The decision to discontinue the database was part of the administration’s broader efforts to roll back climate action and shift the responsibility of disaster monitoring and response onto states. With federal agencies no longer submitting emissions data to the United Nations and taking down climate-related websites, a gap in climate reporting has emerged, prompting nonprofits and state governments to step in and create alternative systems for tracking climate risks.
Climate Central’s updated database revealed alarming statistics for the first half of 2025, showing a significant increase in billion-dollar weather and climate disasters costing a total of $101.4 billion. Climatologist Adam Smith, who led the database under NOAA and now does so at Climate Central, emphasized the importance of understanding how climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of extreme events, and the need for data to build a more resilient future.
In response to the deletion of vital climate data, a group of Senate Democrats introduced a bill to restore the dataset under NOAA, but the bill has not made progress. Meanwhile, organizations like Climate Central are working to fill the void left by the government’s actions, combining and analyzing data from multiple sources to provide valuable insights into climate-related risks.
The deletion of climate data not only affects researchers and insurers but also local and state authorities who rely on this information to make informed decisions about building resilient infrastructure. Without access to resources like the billion-dollar disaster database, policymakers are left without crucial data to support their efforts to address climate disasters.
Some states, such as California, are taking matters into their own hands by developing their own databases of climate and weather hazards. While nonprofit efforts like the revived billion-dollar disaster dataset are helpful, advocates emphasize the importance of government involvement in collecting and maintaining this critical data. In the absence of government action, it is crucial for organizations to continue preserving and sharing valuable climate information to ensure that decision-makers have the tools they need to address the growing threats of climate change.
