The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will hire as many as 450 people to shore up the National Weather Service after deep cuts this spring raised concern about dangerous understaffing, the Trump administration confirmed Wednesday.<\/p>\n
NOAA was granted permission to fill critical positions at its weather arm, including openings for meteorologists, hydrologists and electronics technicians, Trump administration officials said. The hirings are part of an exemption to a freeze on federal hiring in place through\u00a0at least Oct. 15.<\/p>\n
NOAA declined to comment further.<\/p>\n
The planned hiring was first reported by CNN.<\/p>\n
The Department of Government Efficiency has gutted NOAA and the National Weather Service, which are key for the nation’s daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, climate monitoring and more.\u00a0Hundreds of NOAA forecasters and other employees\u00a0have been cut, and NWS offices around the country have had a\u00a0number of vacancies.<\/p>\n
The administration has also weighed ending the\u00a0sharing of satellite data that is key to effective storm tracking\u00a0and\u00a0stopped tracking the cost of climate change-fueled\u00a0weather disasters.<\/p>\n
Meteorologists and climate scientists have\u00a0warned of consequences\u00a0with fewer workers in positions that are crucial, especially as the hurricane season got underway. After deadly flash flooding that killed dozens of people in Texas last month, some local officials and Democrats suggested that the deep staffing cuts may have\u00a0contributed to endangering lives, though others defended the agency’s work.<\/p>\n
Experts cautiously applauded the exemption for hirings as positive news.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this new development is great news for the NWS and the American public, I would like to see that the hiring actions are actually underway,\u201d said Louis Uccellini, former NOAA administrator for weather services and NWS director.<\/p>\n
The hirings are said to include the\u00a0\u201cmission-critical field positions\u201d\u00a0that the agency announced it would hire for in June \u201cto further stabilize front line operations.” The agency did not say at the time how many roles would be filled.<\/p>\n
Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X:\u00a0@alexa_stjohn. Reach her at\u00a0ast.john@ap.org.<\/p>\n
Read more of AP\u2019s climate coverage at http:\/\/www.apnews.com\/climate-and-environment<\/p>\n
The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s\u00a0standards\u00a0for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at\u00a0AP.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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