Ex-NOAA Staff Launch Climate.us as Saharan Dust Cloud Heads for US
Former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have launched a new independent website, Climate.us, to replace the federal climate data portal that was shut down by the Trump administration in 2025. The launch comes as a massive Saharan dust plume makes its annual journey across the Atlantic, expected to reach the southern United States this weekend — underscoring the continued importance of accessible climate and weather information.
Climate.us: A Lifeline for Climate Data
The new site, created by Rebecca Lindsey — former program director for Climate.gov — and two other former NOAA employees laid off as part of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cutbacks, restores critical climate resources that had been taken offline. Climate.gov had attracted nearly 1 million visitors per month before its shutdown, serving scientists, educators, farmers, and the broader public.
“This information is too important. It should remain in a protected place,” Lindsey told NPR.
The team crowdsourced approximately $280,000 to get started and recruited about 80 scientists for a volunteer science panel. A one-time grant from an anonymous donor will sustain the project until at least February 2027. The site recreates the old “climate dashboard” with key climate graphs, 15 years of climate news, expert blogs, maps, and classroom materials.
Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University, praised the effort, saying the site helps “people connect what’s happening at the global scale to how it matters to their lives.” Gretchen Gehrke of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) noted that the brain drain from government has created “a lot of expertise outside of the government,” enabling powerful independent interventions.
Lindsey emphasized that Climate.us will maintain the same nonpartisan, science-focused philosophy as its predecessor. “Climate.gov was never about — and Climate.us will never be about — telling Americans what to do about climate change,” she said. The site is already live at climate.us.
Saharan Dust Cloud Approaches the US
Meanwhile, a giant plume of Saharan dust is making its annual trek across the Atlantic and is expected to reach the United States this weekend. According to USA Today, hazy skies will first develop over South Florida before the dust spreads across the Gulf Coast, including Texas and Louisiana, early next week.
The dust is part of the Saharan Air Layer — a dry, dusty mass that forms over the Sahara Desert during late spring, summer, and early fall. While the plume can create vivid sunsets and filtered sunlight, it also carries a silver lining: the dry, stable air can help suppress tropical storm formation in the Atlantic. However, air quality may temporarily worsen for sensitive groups, including those with asthma or allergies.
Farmers Skeptical of Iran Peace Deal Relief
In the agricultural heartland, farmers are watching global events with cautious optimism — and skepticism. Fertilizer prices have begun to fall following news of a tentative peace deal with Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. But for many, the relief has yet to arrive at the farm gate.
Ryan Poe, a fifth-generation wheat farmer in Hartline, Washington, told NPR that he spent roughly 23% more on fertilizer this spring than before the war. “Maybe a global supplier of fertilizer sees that kind of instant price change,” Poe said. “But for me, on the farm, there’s been no change in fertilizer price.”
A USDA commodities forecast predicts energy and fertilizer prices won’t decline substantially until 2027, leaving many operations on a knife’s edge. “I don’t think that it’s hyperbole to say that there could be quite a number of operations that are basically one bad year away from getting out of business,” said Dave Walton, an Iowa soybean farmer.
Resistance Rangers Fight History Erasure
In a separate but related thread of civic resistance, former National Park rangers have organized as the “Resistance Rangers” to teach Black history that was removed from federal sites. After President Trump signed a 2025 executive order aimed at “restoring truth and sanity to American history,” dozens of exhibits on Black history, climate change, women’s suffrage, and indigenous tribes were scrubbed from national parks.
Elizabeth Kerwin, a former exhibit planner at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, spent years building a wall of remembrance highlighting enslaved people with ties to the site — only to have the exhibit cancelled. On Juneteenth, the Resistance Rangers launched their public education campaign at Harpers Ferry, distributing banned pamphlets, workbooks, and “Junior Resistance Ranger” badges.
“The people who were overlooked and unnamed and didn’t count in the official record, they deserve to take up space in our national memory,” Kerwin said. “They are America.”
A federal judge, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, has ordered the government to reinstate 52 removed items at more than 30 federal sites before July 4, the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Abortion Landscape Four Years After Dobbs
Marking the fourth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, the abortion landscape in America has evolved in unexpected ways. According to NPR, the number of abortions nationally has actually increased each year since Roe v. Wade was overturned, driven largely by the expansion of telemedicine and shield laws that allow abortion pills to reach patients even in ban states.
Anti-abortion politics have grown more complicated, with President Trump remaining largely quiet on the issue while activists push for enforcement of the 1873 Comstock Act as a potential de facto national ban. Legal battles continue, with Louisiana suing the FDA over mifepristone telemedicine access and Texas passing a law allowing private citizens to sue out-of-state prescribers.
What to Watch
As the nation approaches the July 4 weekend and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, several questions remain: Will the Trump administration comply with the court order to reinstate historical exhibits? Will the Iran peace deal hold, bringing tangible relief to American farmers? And as the Saharan dust cloud passes overhead, how will it affect both air quality and the developing hurricane season?
What is clear is that across climate science, agriculture, public history, and reproductive rights, Americans are finding new ways to preserve access to information, resources, and freedoms — often outside the institutions that once provided them.