Anxious Scientists Brace For Trump’s Climate Denialism: ‘Target On Our Backs’

"Experts express fear – and resilience – as they prepare for president-elect’s potential attacks on climate research"

"As the world’s largest gathering of Earth and space scientists swarmed a Washington venue last week, the packed halls have been permeated by an air of anxiety and even dread over a new Donald Trump presidency that might worsen what has been a bruising few years for science.

The annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting drew a record 31,000 attendees this year for the unveiling of a slew of new research on everything from seismology to climate science to heliospheric physics, alongside a sprawling trade show and bouts of networking as scientists jostle to advance their work.

As grad students and grizzled researchers huddled around pin-boarded presentations in a cavernous exhibition space, however, one person dominated muttered conversations: Trump. The president-elect has called climate science a “giant scam” and when last in office sought to gut US scientific funding and sidelined or even punished scientists deemed unfriendly to the interests of the chemical and fossil fuel industries."

Oliver Milman reports for the Guardian December 15, 2024.

SEE ALSO:

"‘Waging War On Science’: Researchers Worry About Their Jobs Under Trump 2.0" (Mother Jones)

 

Source: Guardian, 12/17/2024