Updated at 12:57 pm
After the winter solstice, the number of daylight hours start to slowing increase. However, for federal employees, the days may seem long for another reason. I am a former federal employee. I worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for 12 years, and it was one of the best experiences of my career, except dealing with government shutdowns. They are petty, disruptive, and never really accomplish much. There have been 20 of them since 1976.
Unfortunately as I type this, the nation is facing a holiday-season government shutdown. I find this one particularly disgusting because it is a time when many of us celebrate selflessness, charity, and love. With furloughs and loss of pay threatened, these actions are clearly acts of selfishness and smell of political tantrums. However, my focus herein is what a partial government shutdown means for weather operations, climate, and related sciences.
While some agencies have been funded under previous actions, several weather-climate focused agencies would be impacted by the shutdown. They include NOAA, NASA, the NSF, NOAA, and the US Geological Survey (USGS). According to an article in Nature, "the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a notable exception: it plans to use unexpired multi-year and "no year" funding to keep most of its roughly 14,000 workers on the job — at least until that money runs out."
For NOAA, about 50% of its workforce would be shuttered. However, National Weather Service personnel that provide critical weather forecasts for the nation will still work. By the way, pause for a moment and think about all of the ways daily activities are affected by weather. Pockets of federal personnel would also continue to monitor tsunami warning operations and some greenhouse gases monitoring activities. I still remember a government shutdown and the dedication of our federal workforce even as they are used as pawns in a political chess came. A message from the National Weather Service-Rapid City Office was received in 2013 by Climate Central. Journalist Andrew Freedman shared the message in his article about the dedication of National Weather Service employees during a blizzard:
Access to the office is still blocked. Two employees were able to hike in around some obstructions, but it is not possible to drive out of the parking lot due to snow drifts and downed trees in the neighborhood. The SOO (one who hiked in) is attempting to take two stranded employees home this morning. One forecaster hiked in for his mid shift last night, and I sent him home so he can come back tonight. Of the three who are on duty at this time, two have been here since 7 a.m. Friday, and I have been here since 3 p.m. Friday.
These workers (and there are other stories like this) braved dangerous conditions or slept in the office . They did this and were not being paid on their regular schedule. That's right, there is no pay even for workers that sacrifice themselves on behalf of grateful citizens like you and me. These are truly patriots in my view. Typically, federal workers are retroactively paid, but in the anomalous, tantrum-driven political era that we are currently witnessing, retroactive pay is certainly no guarantee. Even with the "promise of pay" for furloughed employees, mortgages are still due now, and the holiday season is dampened. For real insight, this thread by a federal employee on real implications is a "must read". Oh, Let's also hope no weather radars or weather instruments break during the shutdown. How do they get fixed?
Shutdowns do not just affect federal employees either. Many private companies support the operations of NOAA, NASA, and other federal agencies. It is stunning that people don't understand how intermingled the private sector is within most federal operations. They support operational and mission-critical activities. When shutdowns happen, they are impacted too. Valuable research, procurement, and engineering activities for advancing our weather modeling capabilities (remember complaints about lagging behind the European model), producing our next generation weather satellites, and so forth come to a pause. This doesn't make us "great." It puts us behind and halts progress for protecting the lives and proper of Americans.
It is also a good time to remind you that weather information and warnings received on your weather Apps and on TV weathercasts ultimately come from federal weather models, weather radars, satellites, and personnel at Weather Forecast Offices. Don't be that "rocket scientist" that says "we don't need the feds, I get my weather information from my App."
Weather and climate research supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA are also be impacted. The National Science Foundation and NASA would stop the grants review process and issuing payments to universities and other institutions. NSF manages field operations. For example, this is the summer field research season in Antarctica, and it is unclear what impact the shutdown would have on science research activities or people conducting it.
Another way shutdowns affect weather and climate is the "wall" it places between science and broader information sharing. During shutdowns, valuable NOAA, NASA, and other agency websites that provide data to students and researchers are often shuttered. This affects research productivity. Many federal scientists are also prohibited from gaining approval for mission-critical travel to meetings and conferences. The American Meteorological Society Annual meeting is the largest weather-climate conference in the United States. It is rapidly approaching in early January, and I hear from numerous colleagues that NOAA, NASA, NSF, and other personnel are in limbo. Conferences are critical for networking and idea exchange
However, one of the biggest impacts of "shutdown foolishness "may not be obvious but is equally critical. I am a professor at a major university. I hear students express concerns about going into civil service because of the gamesmanship of shutdowns. This is a problem. If our best and brightest avoid federal service, it means that places like the National Weather Service, FEMA, NASA, NOAA and intelligence agencies are not getting them. These are organizations provide critical services to the nation and are highly technical in nature. They need the best and brightest.
I close with a thank-you to all dedicated civil servants that work on the "promise of pay." I am sure some of you would rather be playing golf too.
