Trump administration will end support for key Arctic climate report
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is cutting direct support for the annual Arctic Report Card, a flagship assessment of the changing climate in the fastest-warming region on Earth, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision.
The report card’s editors and involved NOAA staff were informed of the decision on Monday, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The teams working on the report were not given an explanation for the change, the person said.
In an email, NOAA confirmed that the agency would not facilitate the 2026 report card, but said all the data NOAA traditionally contributes to the product would remain available.
“It’s incredibly damaging to American scientific leadership, to any kind of federal support of timely and informed decisions and to maintaining environmental intelligence in a time when it’s needed more than ever,” said the person who learned of NOAA’s withdrawn support.
Work on the 2026 assessment, which was due to publish in December, is already well underway. Now its authors are scrambling to figure out how to ensure their findings reach the public without the support that traditionally includes staffing resources like coordination, production help, technical assistance and media outreach that NOAA provides. That could include independent efforts, similar to what foundations and other nonprofits have helped coordinate after other canceled scientific reports, such as the first-ever National Nature Assessment.
The Arctic Report Card has been published annually since 2006, providing a comprehensive update on shifting conditions in the planet’s far north. More than 100 researchers from about a dozen countries typically volunteer to help write the document.
Last year’s edition of the report found that average temperatures between October 2024 and September 2025 were the highest on record for the region, while the extent of wintertime sea ice plunged to an all-time low. It also reported worrying new trends, such as toxic metals leaching from melting permafrost, causing rivers to turn rusty orange and threatening drinking water supplies.
Melody Brown Burkins, director of the Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth University, said she learned of NOAA’s withdrawn support from one of the report’s editors.
“In some respects, it’s not a complete surprise,” she said, noting that the Trump administration has canceled several other climate-related reports and programs, including the sixth National Climate Assessment and NOAA’s billion-dollar disaster database.
But she worries that few institutions beyond the U.S. government can provide the level of coordination and logistical support needed to regularly assess rapid change in a remote region. The report card has traditionally included information on a broad range of topics, from ocean changes that affect fisheries to glacier loss that can trigger landslides and floods.
Burkins compared the report card to a “checkup” that Indigenous people, Arctic communities, policymakers, national security professionals and other experts rely on to make decisions.
“Its like not allowing your primary care doctor to tell you how you’re doing,” she said. “Taking away the checkup doesn’t stop the changes from happening.”
Those who work on the report said they are seeking ways to ensure the assessment remains available.
“The spirit is still there to carry on the science,” said Melinda Webster, a polar scientist at the University of Washington who contributes to the report card’s sea ice section. “I’m hopeful there’s a way to do that.”