NASA Refuses to Publish Key Climate Change Report Online Due to "No Legal Obligation"

NASA has decided not to publish the National Climate Assessment (NCA), a key peer-reviewed report issued by the U.S. government every four to five years, on its official website. This decision contradicts previous statements from the White House, which indicated that the space agency would be responsible for making the document publicly available online.

This decision complicates public access to the National Climate Assessment (NCA), which includes vital scientific findings used to track the risks and impacts of climate change across the United States. NASA justifies its stance by stating it will not publish the report on its website due to a lack of legal obligation. This move contradicts a statement issued by the White House on July 3, which designated NASA as the new host for the documents after the original website globalchange.gov was shut down.

In an email, Bethany Stevens, NASA's press secretary, confirmed that the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) – the body overseeing the study and formerly publishing its findings on its own website – has "fulfilled its legal requirements by submitting its reports to Congress."

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is a report mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, issued approximately every four years. This assessment provides a comprehensive, peer-reviewed analysis of the impacts of climate change in the United States. Specifically, the report aims to:

Analyze the impacts of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production, terrestrial and water resources, public health, and infrastructure.

Examine current trends in global change, whether natural or anthropogenic, and provide projections for key trends over the next 25 to 100 years.

Guide mitigation steps for municipalities to cope with natural disasters such as floods, heatwaves, storms, and droughts in an increasingly warmer world.

While previous reports are still partially accessible in the electronic records of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the official USGCRP website remains down. So far, no other federal agency has been publicly tasked with hosting these vital reports.

This disruption in public access has raised serious concerns about government transparency and long-term support for vital climate research. These concerns are amplified by the White House's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026, which suggests a potential 47% reduction in NASA's science funding, although this proposal may face opposition from lawmakers in Congress.

The next National Climate Assessment is scheduled for release in 2028, but its future appears uncertain. According to a report published by The New York Times, hundreds of scientists working on the upcoming report were dismissed by the Trump administration last April.