The Trump administration has proposed nearly $1.7 billion in cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that, if passed by Congress, could decimate funding to critical climate and extreme weather research and fundamentally change the structure of the agency. The proposal would cut more than $480 million from NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, according to a White House document obtained by the Chronicle. … The proposed budget would eliminate funding for NOAA’s six regional climate centers, which provide and manage unique environmental data to different parts of the United States based on regionally-specific weather and climate hazards. The Western Regional Climate Center monitors and researches drought, precipitation, wildfire smoke and other natural hazards in California and eight other states.

Other NOAA news:

• National Fisherman: NOAA layoffs: a crisis for U.S. fisheries?
• E&E News by Politico: Trump 1.0 veteran takes the helm at NOAA Fisheries
• Scientific American: Five key climate and space projects are on on Trump’s chopping block
• PBS: Fired, rehired and fired again, NOAA employees are caught in a ‘liminal state’