environmental protection agency<\/a> report on coastal conditions is delayed due to the shutdown and could be missing data that can only be collected during the winter. but that\u2019s not the only concern.<\/p>\n\u201cair pollutants change seasonally,\u201d rosenberg said. \u201cso if you\u2019re not collecting seasonal data on pollutants then you may have a hole in the data series. that means our predictions of pollutants may degrade, which means our prediction of public health impacts may degrade.\u201d<\/p>\n
the epa also plays an important role in monitoring the emergence of diseases like the zika virus, including paying attention to environmental conditions in which diseases thrive and identifying new potential viruses. the shutdown could leave policymakers underprepared for any potential outbreaks, according to rosenberg.<\/p>\n
\u201cthey are monitoring the environmental conditions that allow diseases to emerge,\u201d rosenberg said, \u201cthey are monitoring new diseases that are coming on board, that are identified in conjunction with cdc and other organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
the shutdown\u2019s effect on climate change research also could affect u.s. leadership abroad on the issue, which already has been waning since president trump announced in 2017 he was pulling the u.s. out of the paris climate agreement.<\/p>\n
at a recent hearing of the house committee on science, space and technology, chairwoman eddie bernice johnson questioned climate change researchers about the effects the shutdown had on the epa\u2019s research.<\/p>\n
dr. robert kopp, a climate science professor from rutgers university, said members of the epa were unable to attend international meetings on climate research, even remotely, which made the u.s. seem unreliable.<\/p>\n
\u201cif we are an unreliable partner in international collaborations that does make it harder for us to be a leader,\u201d kopp said.<\/p>\n
dr. jennifer francis, a scientist at the woods hole research center in massachusetts, cited similar concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cthere were several major scientific conferences that occurred during the shutdown and a large number of government employees were unable to attend and present the research that they had been working on for literally years,\u201d francis said.<\/p>\n
according to francis, there were also delays at the epa for processing proposals for new research, which will \u201cdelay the progress of science.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201ceverything you\u2019ve heard about climate change is driven by data and those data need to be collected,\u201d said kristie ebi, a climate science professor at the university of washington. \u201cyou can\u2019t make up data. you can\u2019t go back and regenerate what you didn\u2019t collect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
the recent government shutdown\u2019s effect on climate research could have unfortunate consequences in the near future, according to climate scientists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9417,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4889],"tags":[561,144,1129,675,195,4082],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-military","tag-climate-action","tag-climate-change","tag-epa","tag-government","tag-politics","tag-politics-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
climate scientists reeling from shutdown's impact on research - planet forward<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n