In a move that screams 'we prefer our environmental data like our glaciers: retreating,' the Trump administration has yanked its support for the annual Arctic Report Card. This, despite the Arctic heating up four times faster than the global average, a fact that apparently didn't make the cut for the administration's priority list.

On Tuesday, Kim Doster, communications director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), confirmed the agency is withdrawing support for the report, which has been tracking Arctic environmental changes since 2006. Doster, in a statement to the New York Times, offered no explanation for the decision, merely noting that coordination of the 2026 Arctic Report Card will not be facilitated through NOAA. Ever the optimist, she added that data historically contributed by NOAA will still be collected and remain publicly available, which is like saying you'll still have the ingredients even if you cancel the chef.

For two decades, this peer-reviewed report has been the go-to source for Arctic changes in atmosphere, oceans, cryosphere, and tundra. Recent editions have chronicled the region's warming at four times the global rate, with 2025 seeing the warmest surface temperatures since 1900 and the lowest annual maximum sea ice extent in the 47-year satellite record. On land, melting glaciers are contributing to sea level rise, threatening water supplies, and increasing hazards like landslides and tsunamis. And in a particularly colorful twist, thawing permafrost in over 200 Arctic Alaska watersheds has turned rivers orange due to iron and other elements, raising acidity and toxic metal levels, which is great for the aesthetic but terrible for drinking water and fish.

Rick Thoman, lead editor of this year's report, is scrambling to keep things together, saying, 'We are scrambling to pull the pieces together. I am optimistic that we can find a path forward for 2027 and beyond.' Twila Moon, a report editor and scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, lamented the loss of US federal leadership: 'The US is an Arctic nation. It's not just a distant place. It's also our national place.' She added that the withdrawal is 'a real stepping back of US leadership in the science arena, in the environmental intelligence arena.'

Former NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad called the decision 'really unconscionable,' noting the report provides essential baseline data for infrastructure planning, from oil pipelines to fishing communities. He speculated, 'I can only infer that it's tied to their aversion to anything associated with having a better understanding of climate change.'

This is just the latest in a series of climate-science crackdowns since Trump took office in January 2025: stripping support for research mentioning 'climate,' dismantling a key climate research center in Colorado, attempting to kill a $368m deep-sea observation system, and removing climate reports from government websites. NOAA has also stopped tracking climate disaster costs and dismissed all contributors to the US government's flagship climate preparedness report.

Because who needs to know what's happening to the planet when you can just, you know, not know?