Experts: Trump cuts to US satellites will harm weather forecasts

Key Points:

• The Trump administration's budget cuts to the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) weather satellite program risk causing a coverage gap and set U.S. weather forecasting back nearly a decade, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report and Democratic lawmakers.
• The cuts reduce the planned GeoXO constellation from six to four satellites and eliminate three of five scientific instruments, including the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which is crucial for predicting severe weather such as tornadoes and hurricanes.
• These reductions narrow the satellites’ focus primarily to weather forecasting, removing capabilities for climate research and environmental monitoring like air quality, water quality, and wildfire smoke tracking.
• The GAO report questions whether the new GeoXO satellites will improve upon or even maintain the current generation's functionality, raising concerns that U.S. weather forecasting may fall behind other countries such as Europe, Japan, and China.
• Democratic lawmakers have formally requested NOAA provide cost-benefit analyses and further information on the impact of these cuts, warning that the changes represent a significant weakening of America’s ability to understand weather and climate.