For more than four decades, the database has provided Americans with a comprehensive record of the country's costliest and deadliest climate-related disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires, floods and extreme heat. But NOAA now says the dataset will be archived and no longer maintained, citing "evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes."
The decision comes amid sweeping changes at NOAA and FEMA under Donald Trump's second term — moves that critics say are systematically dismantling the federal government's climate infrastructure in favor of fossil fuel industry interests.
A trusted climate ledger goes dark
Launched in 1980, the NOAA database became a "gold standard" for understanding how extreme weather — increasingly amplified by climate change — was affecting lives, communities, and the economy.
"The NOAA dataset is essential for linking real-world disaster costs to climate change," said Jeff Masters, meteorologist with Yale Climate Connections. "Its disappearance is a major loss at a time when we urgently need better data, not less."
The database uniquely combines federal data from FEMA, insurance industry figures, and state agencies to provide comprehensive, inflation-adjusted loss estimates for each disaster — insights not publicly available elsewhere.
While private insurance firms and international disaster databases exist, experts warn these are often incomplete, inaccessible, or proprietary.
Climate denial by omission
The move comes alongside a broader pattern of climate rollback from the Trump administration. The same week, FEMA's acting administrator Cameron Hamilton was replaced after opposing efforts to dismantle the agency — a threat Trump has repeatedly floated.
Kristina Dahl of Climate Central said the NOAA decision reflects a deliberate strategy to blur the link between extreme weather and climate change. "Disasters are getting worse year after year. But instead of helping Americans understand that, the administration is turning off the lights," she said.
"These are the events that show people climate change is not theoretical — it's here, and it's hurting them. Eliminating data that tracks this is not just shortsighted; it makes Americans less safe."
A hollowed-out agency
The rollback follows months of turmoil at NOAA. In February, the Trump administration fired hundreds of agency staff — including weather forecasters and climate scientists — in what insiders described as a purge to shrink government under Elon Musk's so-called "efficiency drive." Over 10% of NOAA's workforce has now been cut.
Meanwhile, NOAA's National Weather Service briefly suspended non-English translations of weather alerts in March — a move swiftly reversed after public backlash.
Further changes to the agency are expected under Trump's draft budget, which may include more cuts to weather monitoring systems such as balloon launches — essential for accurate forecasts.
Erasing climate costs, not climate consequences
Despite ending the database, the rising toll of climate-fueled disasters remains undeniable. Hurricane Milton, record-breaking heatwaves, and destructive wildfires in southern California have all been intensified by a rapidly warming planet.
"Scrapping the database won't stop disasters from getting worse," Dahl said. "It will only stop us from measuring how much they're costing us — and who's paying the price."