Erasing the Evidence
The Disappearing U.S. Climate Data and Its Human Health Toll
July 19, 2025. — Susan Greene
Science is about knowing. Engineering is about doing. But erasing the data is about denying.*
In 2006, a pivotal, peer-reviewed article published in Environmental Health Perspectives reflected on the 2000 U.S. National Assessment, which warned of the direct and indirect health effects of climate variability. It projected a future of increased respiratory illness, vector-borne disease, mental health burdens, and deaths from extreme heat and weather—all driven by a warming planet. Nearly two decades later, the scientific community has amassed irrefutable data confirming those fears, only to now face an alarming new crisis: the suppression and erasure of that very evidence.
The Health Toll: Predictions Realized
The 2000 U.S. National Assessment warned of rising public health risks from climate change—heat-related illness, respiratory problems, and vector-borne disease among them. Today, that prediction has materialized in tragic and measurable ways.
Heat-Related Deaths on the Rise
“Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related death in the U.S.—and it’s getting worse each year.”
National Weather Service, 2024
Between 2004 and 2018, an estimated 10,527 heat-related deaths occurred in the United States, with annual totals increasing alongside rising average temperatures. In 2023 alone, 2,302 heat-related deaths were recorded—more than double the number from just a decade earlier.
.
The impact isn’t evenly distributed. Older adults, outdoor workers, and low-income communities face the highest risks. A 2024 JAMA Network Open study found that each 1°C rise in daily maximum temperature significantly increased emergency visits for cardiovascular and diabetic complications, particularly in underserved populations.
Air Quality, Asthma, and Allergies
Worsening air quality due to wildfires and higher ozone levels is triggering more asthma attacks, ER visits, and long-term respiratory issues. According to the EPA, rising temperatures contribute to increased ground-level ozone formation, which irritates lung tissue and worsens chronic conditions like COPD and asthma.
The American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of the Air” report noted that over 130 million Americans—nearly 40% of the population—live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution, a number that’s up from 106 million in 2020.
Vector-Borne Disease Expansion
The ranges of disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes are expanding with warming climates. According to the CDC, Lyme disease cases have nearly doubled in the past two decades, from 19,804 cases in 2006 to over 37,000 in 2023, due to longer warm seasons and northward tick migration.
Similarly, mosquito-borne illnesses like West Nile virus, dengue, and even malaria have reemerged in areas of the southern U.S. as the mosquito season lengthens.
The Human and Economic Cost
In addition to lives lost or harmed, the economic toll on the healthcare system is staggering. According to a 2021 review in GeoHealth, 10 climate-sensitive events in 2012 alone—including wildfires, heat waves, and infectious disease outbreaks—resulted in $10 billion in health-related costs in the U.S. alone.
The trend is only worsening. In 2023, climate-related health damages are estimated to have surpassed $20 billion, factoring in heat deaths, respiratory hospitalizations, and long-term care needs.
Data from multiple agencies confirm the toll climate change is taking on American lives. Between 2004 and 2018, over 10,000 deaths in the U.S. were linked to heat exposure—most often among older adults and people with chronic conditions. According to the EPA, climate-related stressors such as wildfires, floods, and air pollution are worsening health outcomes for the most vulnerable, including children, low-income communities, and those with preexisting health issues.
From just 1980 to 2024, the United States experienced 383 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, costing the nation over $2.6 trillion in damages. Each disaster is a story of lost homes, lost livelihoods—and often, lost lives.
What’s Disappearing?
Recent developments show that essential climate databases maintained by federal agencies like NOAA, the EPA, and NASA are being taken offline, made inaccessible to the public, or left without future updates. Particularly concerning is NOAA’s decision to halt updates to its Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product. As stated prominently on the dataset page:
“In alignment with evolving priorities, statutory mandates, and staffing changes, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) will no longer be updating the Billion Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters product…”
NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information, 2025
While the archived records from 1980–2024 remain available, the suspension of future updates leaves a dangerous gap in public understanding and policymaking.
A recent PLOS Climate editorial warned that erasing climate data undermines both accountability and action, stating that “science denial takes many forms—including the silent removal of information from public access.” This tactic not only obscures the scale of ongoing damage but compromises our ability to prepare for and mitigate future harm.
Why It Matters
HEalth & Safety
Climate data helps forecast and prepare for public health emergencies caused by extreme weather. Without it, public health officials may be less able to anticipate spikes in heat-related deaths, asthma attacks during wildfire seasons, or infectious disease outbreaks following floods (EPA, 2024).
Equity & Justice
Climate disasters do not affect all people equally. Climate data has been used to identify and support environmental justice communities, helping to direct funds and recovery efforts toward those hit hardest—often low-income communities, people of color, and rural populations (JAMA Network Open, 2024).
Science & Policy
Scientific reporting has served as a anchor for Congressional hearings, IPCC summaries, White House policy briefings, and state-level resilience planning. Ending it weakens the empirical foundation for climate policy at every level of government (PLOS Climate, 2024).
Economic Accountability
With the U.S. averaging nearly 20 billion-dollar disasters annually in the 2020s, losing real-time cost accounting obstructs understanding of the true economic impact of climate change, from crop loss to destroyed infrastructure (NOAA NCEI, 2024).
Global Scramble to Save U.S. Data
While the archival data from 1980–2024 remains valuable, the decision to stop future updates signals a troubling shift away from data-driven governance. Climate change is not slowing down. If anything, the frequency and cost of disasters are accelerating. The halt in updates leaves a growing information void precisely when clear-eyed, accessible, and regularly updated climate data is needed most.
“It’s stunning to me that, at a time when we’re seeing more intense hurricanes, greater rainfall extremities, more drought, more wildfires – why at that point would we ever imagine cutting the science that is key to addressing those issues, and keeping people safe?”
Eric Nost, Geographer, University of Guelph, 2025
This is not the first time U.S. climate data has been under threat. During both Trump administrations, an urgent effort unfolded as researchers and volunteers worldwide raced to download, mirror, and archive federal climate databases before they were removed. As reported by the BBC, scientists feared that deleting public climate data would set back environmental research and emergency planning for years. The echoes of that moment are being felt again today.
In the absence of federal updates, researchers and archivists may attempt to fill the gap, but no alternative will carry the visibility or authority that NOAA’s database once did.
What’s at Stake?
The climate crisis is not a distant threat. It’s a present reality, affecting your health, your home, and your wallet. Gutting the infrastructure that documents and disseminates this reality doesn’t just delay solutions—it accelerates harm. “Informed consent” is a principle not only in medicine but in democracy. The public deserves access to the data that documents the unfolding crisis.
As we look ahead, it’s critical that journalists, health professionals, scientists, and citizens demand transparency and preservation of climate records. Data saves lives—but only if it’s allowed to exist.
*The original quote, “Science is about knowing, engineering is about doing” was originally stated by Henry Petroski, American engineer and professor of engineering and history at Duke University, before his death in 2023.