July 12, 2025

TO: Washington US Representatives and Washington Senators in the US Congress

RE: The US National Climate Assessment Report

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is the US government’s preeminent report on climate change in the United States. It was set into law by the US Congress in 1990 and there have been five reports since then, released every four years.

Although the National Climate Assessment is required by Congress, in April, the Trump administration announced it was canceling funding for the US Global Change Research Program, which coordinates the report. All the authors working on the upcoming Sixth National Climate Assessment, set for release in 2028, were also dismissed. The US Global Change Research Program's website was taken offline, along with all five editions of the National Climate Assessment and a wide range of information detailing how human- amplified climate change is impacting the United States.

The most recent assessment, NCA5, was released in 2023. The report lays out the basic science of climate change, examines how climate change will affect 17 national-level topics, and includes 10 regional chapters covering the entire United States.

The national reports are not only peer reviewed by other scientists, but examined for accuracy by the National Academy of Sciences, federal agencies, the staff and the public.

The NCA gives close attention to current and future risks, how those risks can be reduced, and implications for society under different future scenarios. The most recent report, issued in 2023, included an interactive atlas that zoomed down to the county level. This lets Americans explore the impacts of climate change in their own back yards. Counties, cities, and states find it useful in planning future needs and in devel- oping budgets. Local officials say the report has helped them decide about upcoming needs - whether to raise roads, build seawalls and even move hospital generators from basements to roofs. Climate change is affecting people’s security, health and livelihoods in every corner of the country in different ways, with minority and Native American communities often disproportionately at risk.

All of these reports have been taken offline by the Trump administration as of July 1. This is part of the cutback and cancellation of any work on climate change. The effect of this foolish ac- tion was brutally clear when over 100 people were swept away in the flash flood on Guadalupe River in Central Texas on July 4. Climate change will continue to make storms stronger and fires larger and faster moving. Thousands more will die from these catastrophic events. We need more resources focused on prevention and mitigation and we need them now! What specific actions are you taking to protect people and infra- structure from extreme weather events caused by climate change?

We want to see public meetings and congressional hearings on this subject. It impacts the entire country. The hearings should include scientists and experts who provided the analysis for past NCA reports and those who used this critical data for planning and public health and safety at the state level.

We are calling on you, our Washington State Representatives and Senators to the US Congress, to restore the National Climate Assessment as directed by congress in 1990.