Trump’s NOAA cuts could impact India’s forecasting capabilities in the long term: Officials

A senior official said Tuesday that the Donald Trump administration’s decision to cut funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will not immediately affect India’s weather monitoring and forecasting capabilities, but may have an impact in the long run.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a U.S. government agency that monitors and predicts changes in climate, weather, oceans and coasts. It shares this data with several countries, including India, to help them improve prediction accuracy.

Responding to media inquiries, M Ravichandran, Secretary of the Science Department of the Union Department, said India’s predictive capacity will not be affected in the short term, but may have consequences later.
He said: “If human power is cut, we have no problem. Even if the models don’t exist, there is no problem. The only thing is that they greatly contribute to observation systems, especially in the oceans – whether it’s the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean.

He added: “So far, there is no problem this year…but, in the long run, if they reduce NOAA funding, and the observation system of oceans and other things… then our prediction system will certainly be (impacted).

Ravichandran said the clues to monsoon predictions come from the ocean, and if “we do not have proper ocean observations, we will definitely not be able to have better predictability”. According to media reports, the Trump administration plans to cut NOAA funds by 27%, or about $1.67 billion.

Since returning to the office, President Trump – Daniel Climate Change – has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, canceling multilateral efforts to help coal-dependent developing countries turn to clean energy and withdrawing support from a Global Fund aimed at helping vulnerable groups deal with climate-related losses and damages.