The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has placed new restrictions on scientists that those inside the agency have said could hamper the availability and quality of global weather forecasts.

Current and former high-level scientists with the federal agency said the new rules have created unease and caused alarm with partners at European agencies, reported The Guardian.

“My expectation is that it’s going to be a crackdown on climate,” said a senior NOAA scientist who wished to remain anonymous. “People are just somewhere between disturbed and terrified.”

In October, I reported on Project 2025’s plan to gut NOAA, the National Weather Service, & climate research Today The Guardian is reporting “DOGE staffers enter NOAA headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats” www.nbcnewyork.com/news/nationa…

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— Chase Cain (@chasecain.bsky.social) February 4, 2025 at 10:51 PM

The new NOAA restrictions, as communicated in a staff-wide message last week, said agency headquarters would implement further oversight over emails and “virtual meetings” of scientists with foreign nationals.

The new rules also require that all employees and NOAA affiliates must document “all international engagements” for approval on a case-by-case basis.

“[I]t’s a crazy amount of stuff to do. Working internationally is so routine, it’s just hardly thought of,” the scientist said. “It’s a difficult time to be a federal employee right now.”

The extra administrative burden looked to be especially taxing for the National Weather Service (NWS), which provides free weather forecasting to the public.

According to a recent study, NWS produces $73 in benefits to the American people for every dollar invested, as well as additional value to the world through free access to public data.

An email sent to NOAA Research on Wednesday said the department would start having to submit all “international engagement” to be approved, including gatherings of international organizations, travel and face-to-face meetings, The Washington Post reported.

“People have asked, ‘What if I have a postdoc [researcher] and they’re not a U.S. citizen?’” a fisheries employee said. “Nobody has an answer for those types of questions.”

A climate scientist with the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, who also preferred not to be named, said last week’s news “appalled and saddened” him, reported The Guardian.

“The climate crisis knows no boundaries, and halting international scientific collaboration can only undermine our ability to understand and combat it,” the scientist said.

NOAA staff are preparing for more staffing and budgetary cuts that would put extra strain on the agency.

Current employees were told to expect budget cuts of 30 percent and for staff to be cut in half, former NOAA officials disclosed to CBS News.

“Hearing reports that Musk’s cronies are targeting NOAA — infiltrating key systems & locking out career employees,” Chris Van Hollen, Democratic senator from Maryland, posted on X Tuesday. “NOAA is vital for weather forecasting, scientific research & more. Their critical work saves lives. My team and I are looking into this & we will not stand for it.”

A NOAA field command vehicle with a tornado in sight in Wyoming on June 5, 2009. Dr. Mike Coniglio / NOAA NSSL

Congressional aides told CBS that lawmakers had gotten multiple complaints about staff from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by Elon Musk, coming into NOAA offices.

“They walked through security like it didn’t apply to them,” said Andrew Rosenberg, former NOAA deputy director, as CBS News reported. “They were there and they were going through IT systems… They’re not asking substantial questions about what NOAA does and the importance of its role. This isn’t a review to figure out efficiency.”

Policy experts inside Trump’s “inner circle” are looking to privatize the NWS, reported The Guardian. But because it’s so valuable to society, former chief of the NWS weather prediction center’s forecast operations Greg Carbin said the new NOAA restrictions can’t be viewed as strictly cost-saving measures.

“Cutting these services now would be a reckless decision that would cost far more in lives and damages than it would ever save on a balance sheet,” Carbin said. “Investing in weather and climate services is not a cost – it is an essential safeguard for the nation’s security, economy and wellbeing.”

Earlier this month, DOGE put NOAA’s head of human resources on administrative leave. It also initiated a purge of activities associated with equity, diversity and inclusion.

NOAA sources have said that the extra administrative burden, coupled with anticipated budget and staff cuts, in addition to the federal hiring freeze, will interfere with the country’s ability to keep the public weather service functional. It could also cause a restriction of freely available NOAA data abroad, leading to “a profound global impact.”

“Accurate forecasts protect lives, mitigate billions of dollars in disaster-related damages, and enable businesses, from agriculture to transportation, to operate more efficiently,” Carbin said, as The Guardian reported.

Approximately 4,500 scientists and technicians are normally employed by the NWS, but the agency is struggling to keep a full staff.

According to a senior NOAA official, “hundreds” of NOAA staff have accepted the Trump administration’s federal buyout.

“If the proposed cuts to NOAA and NWS are enacted, the consequences will be severe,” Carbin added. “It will lead to less accurate and slower weather forecasts and warnings – putting lives and property at risk.”

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A colony of eight beavers in the Czech Republic have flooded and built dams on a former army training site that is now a protected area, saving taxpayers $1.2 million, reported AFP.

Officials had wanted to construct a dam to protect endangered crayfish in the Klabava River from acidic water and sediment spilling into the waterway from two nearby ponds.

“Beavers always know best. The places where they build dams are always chosen just right – better than when we design it on paper,” Jaroslav Obermajer, Central Bohemian office head at the Czech Nature and Landscape Protection Agency, told Radio Prague International.

Administrators of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area project — first drafted in 2018 — had been dealing with bureaucratic issues while trying to obtain building permits from authorities when they discovered that the wetlands plan had been completed by local beavers.

“Beavers are able to build a dam in one night, two nights at the most. While people have to get building permits, get the building project approved, and find the money for it. But of course a digger working on his own could build it in about a week,” said zoologist Jiri Vlček.

After plans stalled for a new dam in the Czech Republic, eight beavers saved the day seemingly overnight. “At this point, nothing that beavers do surprises me.” www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti…

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— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) February 8, 2025 at 9:35 PM

Environmentalists who came to inspect the European beavers’ work said the pools they created will provide good conditions for wetlands species like frogs and the rare stone crayfish. They will also improve water quality.

Beavers are semi-aquatic “ecosystem engineers” who use mud, rocks and wood to block streams. This creates “beaver ponds” that the rodents use as food sources and to protect them from predators, reported National Geographic.

Their ingenious structures create habitat for other species as well, including fish, insects, amphibians, herons, whooping cranes, bison and moose. They can also serve as firebreaks and carbon sinks.

“They built a wetland with pools and canals. The area is roughly twice larger than planned,” Bohumil Fišer, who heads the Brdy Protected Landscape Area and works with the Czech Nature Conservation Agency, told AFP.

The beavers have so far constructed at least four dams south of Prague and are working to build more.

While there are some critics, such as farmers who complain of the beavers felling trees, there is no farmland near the site, which sits in an area that was designated as protected in 2016.

“We don’t expect any conflict with the beaver in the next 10 years,” Fišer said.

The post Beavers Engineer Long-Delayed Czech Wetlands Project appeared first on EcoWatch.

Approximately 27,000 farmed salmon have escaped from a farm off the Norwegian coast.

Global seafood company Mowi is offering a reward to fishers who catch the escaped salmon in what environmentalists said was a “disaster for wild salmon,” reported The Guardian.

The largest salmon producer in the world, Mowi is offering a bounty of approximately $44.65 for each salmon caught. The seafood giant said the fish — one-quarter of its 105,000 farmed salmon population — escaped during a storm at the Storvika V facility in Troms, Norway.

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries was onsite to supervise and follow up with the incident.

“We would like the public to tip us off about catching and observing farmed salmon in the area,” said the Directorate of Fisheries, as Fish Farmer reported.

The severe storm reportedly damaged the outer ring of a cage where the salmon were kept. A mooring was also believed to have caught fire.

The escaped salmon’s average weight was 12.1 pounds, according to the fisheries directorate, reported The Guardian.

The Norwegian authorities on Monday issued an order for the expansion of the company’s recapturing efforts.

“Normally, fish farmers are only allowed to conduct recapture operations within a 500-metre zone around the facility in the event of an escape. However, based on the potential scale of this incident, Mowi was instructed to extend recapture efforts beyond this zone,” said Vegard Oen Hatten, fisheries directorate spokesperson, as The Guardian reported.

Environmentalists say escaped salmon present big environmental concerns, such as reducing the genetic diversity of wild salmon, intensifying competition for spawning grounds and increasing sea lice infections.

“27,000 farmed salmon on the run is a disaster for wild salmon,” said Pål Mugaas, spokesperson for Norske Lakseelver (Norwegian Salmon Rivers). “Science has proved that interbreeding between wild stocks and farmed salmon produce offspring that in the long term has low survival rate in nature.”

Pal Mugaas, head of communications for the charity Norwegian Salmon Rivers, said he was “very afraid” that the aquaculture company Scottish Sea Farms would hasten the wild salmon’s decline with its plans to build large open-pen “ocean farms” in Scottish waters

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— Times and Sunday Times, Scotland (@timesscotland.bsky.social) February 3, 2025 at 7:02 AM

Norway exports 1.32 million tons of farmed salmon each year, which is a problem for wild salmon. During the summer of 2024, wild salmon numbers fell to a historic low, leading to the closure of salmon fishing in 33 rivers. This summer three fjords and 42 rivers have been submitted for closure.

Farmed salmon have been classed as a major threat to wild salmon by the Norwegian Atlantic salmon scientific advisory committee. Two-thirds of Norway’s wild Atlantic salmon stocks are thought to have experienced genetic interference from escaped farmed salmon.

“[F]armed salmon are made to be fat and slow and be effective for the industry,” said investigative reporter Simen Saetre, as reported by NPR. “When they mate with the wild salmon, then also the wild salmon becomes slow and fat and easy to catch for predators.”

Andreas Bjelland Eriksen, Norway’s environment minister, ruled out an open-net fish farming ban last month, despite acknowledging the existence of an “existential threat” to wild North Atlantic salmon, as The Guardian reported.

Eriksen instead said the plan was to look for an “acceptable” pollution level for wild salmon.

Mowi called the escaped salmon situation “serious,” saying that registered fishers who recaught the fish could deliver them to “reception centres” around the area in exchange for their bounty.

“Mowi would like to extend its sincere thanks to the Coast Guard Ship Svalbard, and a number of other organisations and companies in addition to the very dedicated employees who participated in the operation under very demanding weather conditions,” the company said, as reported by Fish Farmer.

The post 27,000 Farmed Salmon Escape From Seafood Company off Norwegian Coast, Threatening Wild Fish appeared first on EcoWatch.

The United Kingdom has announced new reduced subsidies for its controversial Drax power station, which had been previously converted to burning wood biomass from coal.

The North Yorkshire plant is an important source of energy for the country, but has received criticism because of sustainability concerns, in addition to Drax Group plc’s enormous profits, reported Bloomberg.

“Biomass currently plays an important role in our energy system, but we are conscious of concerns about sustainability and the level of subsidy biomass plants have received in the past,” said Michael Shanks, UK energy minister, in a statement. “We believe that [the subsidies] simply did not deliver a good enough deal for bill payers and enabled Drax to make unacceptably large profits.”

Drax has received criticism for burning wood pellets that were sourced from Canadian and United States forests, The Guardian reported.

Subsidies for Drax have been cut in half, and the UK government has ordered the power station to use only sustainable wood, rather than the 70 percent of woody biomass it is currently getting from sustainable sources.

🚨The DIRTIEST power station is about to get a bit LESS dirty! 😮‍💨 The UK government has announced LIMITS on Drax power station's ability to BURN TREES and POLLUTE our air. They will ALSO start FINING Drax if the wood burnt doesn't come from WASTE products. 🔥

— Greenpeace UK (@greenpeaceuk.bsky.social) February 10, 2025 at 9:45 AM

The new agreement specified that “material sourced from primary and old growth forests” would not be subsidized, reported the BBC.

The government has threatened Drax with “substantial penalties” for noncompliance, The Guardian reported.

The new deal halves subsidies from 2027 to 2031, saying the plant will provide power only at times when it is “really” necessary. It is estimated the strategy will save customers $210.5 million each year.

Drax is the largest renewable power generator in Britain by output, with its plants making up roughly six percent of the UK’s supply of electricity. The company’s last coal-fired power plant was shut down near Selby in 2023 after 50 years.

The revised arrangement includes a “clawback mechanism” to keep the company from making excessive profits should there be a steep rise in electricity costs, reported the BBC.

“Under this proposed agreement, Drax can step in to increase generation when there is not enough electricity, helping to avoid the need to burn more gas or import power from Europe, and when there is too much electricity on the UK grid, Drax can turn down and help to balance the system,” said Chief Executive Will Gardiner, as the BBC reported.

Green activists had been afraid UK ministers would give Drax, which has received billions in past subsidies, unrestricted support despite concerns over the impact burning biomass has on the environment.

“Continuing to subsidise huge biomass imports is not a step on the road to a cleaner future, but a dirty compromise with past failures. Trees should be left to grow and not be burnt in a major subsidy-fuelled bonfire,” said Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK policy director, as reported by The Guardian. “The new criteria should, hopefully, limit the damage done both by restricting its operations and reforming its supply chain, but the government is still far too trusting of big polluters asking for big subsidies to decarbonise. We have cheap, clean power sources available, and we shouldn’t be left to gamble on schemes like this any more.”

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At United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington on Thursday, Democratic Senator Edward J. Markey, U.S. Representative for Arizona Yassamin Ansari and New York Representative Paul Tonko requested a meeting with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to discuss why funding for environmental programs was being “unconstitutionally cut off,” a press release from the Office of Ed Markey said.

The Trump administration has disregarded multiple court orders requiring that the funds be restarted.

The three Democratic members of Congress had also planned “to demand that the funding that has already been authorized and appropriated by Congress be rightfully unfrozen,” the press release said.

“Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their unqualified, unelected, unwanted henchmen want to dismantle the government services that keep our communities thriving, healthy, and safe from polluters,” Markey said in the press release. “I went to the headquarters of the EPA to demand answers from Administrator Zeldin and the DOGE representatives who are illegally withholding funding that would keep air and water clean and help families save money.”

Here’s what happened when Congressman Tonko, Congresswoman Ansari, and I showed up at EPA today to ask to meet with DOGE. First, we were denied entry. Then we were promised a representative was coming to speak with us—twice. No one ever came. We are demanding answers. youtu.be/fvP1xlt46w0

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— Senator Ed Markey (@markey.senate.gov) February 6, 2025 at 7:38 PM

Trump administration officials have not released billions of EPA dollars authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including those allotted for clean school bus programs. This has left communities without the resources to combat the impacts of hazardous pollution.

In the lobby of the EPA, the legislators faced a cold reception.

Wearing a scarf that said “Climate Can’t Wait,” Senator Markey spoke to security personnel.

“I’m Senator Markey, and we’re here to request a meeting with EPA officials,” the senator from Massachusetts said, as Inside Climate News reported.

The three legislators were escorted outside and stood in the building’s entryway. A security officer told them they were waiting for a representative to come and speak with them.

“We are here to request a meeting with any and all EPA officials inside,” Tonko said, as reported by Inside Climate News. “The American people deserve to know whether their clean air, clean water and clean land are in jeopardy.”

Following the attempted meeting, other members of Congress, as well as advocates and leaders of several unions and environmental groups, including Green New Deal Network, Hip Hop Caucus, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Climate Action Campaign, Union of Concerned Scientists, National Council of Churches and Natural Resources Defense Council, joined the lawmakers outside EPA headquarters for a press conference.

They accused the newly appointed leaders of the EPA of defying court orders issued by the federal government to enforce legally mandated environmental protections.

“In a place like Phoenix, Arizona, where we have extreme heat, where hundreds of people die each year from heat exposure, and where air pollution is among the worst in the country, gutting the EPA is unacceptable,” Ansari said, as Inside Climate News reported. “People’s lives literally depend on it.”

Multiple judges have issued orders blocking the federal funding freeze, but state leaders have reported that they continue to be locked out of the government’s payment system.

Jillian Blanchard, Lawyers for Good Government’s vice president for climate change and environmental justice, said IRA payouts for grant recipients at the Energy and Agriculture departments had also reported being unable to access funds.

“People cannot get into their accounts. They can’t access funding. They’re waiting on invoices to be paid. No one will call them back,” Blanchard said, as reported by Scientific American.

Markey said the public should know if the EPA was violating court orders and federal statutes.

“Fifty-five years ago, the American people demanded action against polluters — that is the heart and soul of the EPA,” Markey said, as Inside Climate News reported. “We need to make sure their mission remains intact and that they are following the law.”

Outside EPA headquarters, the legislators addressed the group that had gathered, including members of the press, calling Musk an “unelected billionaire” who was intent on orchestrating a hostile restructuring of federal agencies, including the EPA.

“Musk has made it clear — he’s putting the United States in a wood chipper, and now he’s coming for the EPA,” Markey stated. “They’re bragging about taking money from Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act and the Green New Deal to fund tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires.”

Markey and fellow legislators referred to reports of EPA employees being warned about possible removal from their jobs. On Thursday, 168 employees who had been working on the agency’s environmental justice initiatives were put on administrative leave.

“After being denied access and a meeting, I left with more questions than answers. I will not stop fighting on behalf of the American people — their clean air, clean water, lower energy bills, and livable future — until I get those answers and funding gets restored. No business as usual. No votes for nominees. No illegal funding freeze. And no workers left behind,” Markey said in the press release.

EPA staff asked what they could do if the agency continued to defy oversight.

“Congress is a stimulus-response institution,” Markey said, as reported by Inside Climate News. “There is nothing more stimulating than millions of Americans waking up to find out their health care and environment are being gutted for tax breaks. Our job is to sound the alarm so the public can push back.”

The legislators promised to keep on with their oversight efforts, which include congressional investigations and possible legal action, while acknowledging the difficulties of holding the EPA accountable under the Trump administration.

“The whole system is fundamentally not working,” Ansari said. “Right now, they are ignoring the courts, ignoring federal oversight, and rewriting the Constitution to serve their billionaire backers.”

Ansari warned the EPA fight was only one part of a bigger effort by Republicans to dismantle government services.

“It is easy to cut what you do not care about,” Ansari said. “Elon Musk and Donald Trump do not care about the American people. They care about their billionaire agenda, which exploits workers and fuels environmental injustice.”

The members of Congress reaffirmed their commitment to blocking the administration’s policies and nominees they felt posed a threat to the country’s environmental protections.

“We have to fight for our future,” Markey said. “From the halls of Congress to the streets of America, from courtrooms to factory floors, we must stand up for clean air, clean water, and a livable planet. That is why we are here.”

The post ‘Gutting the EPA Is Unacceptable’: Democratic Lawmakers Demand Answers Amid ‘Unconstitutional’ Funding Freeze appeared first on EcoWatch.