Oliver Milman reports that NASA Earth Science Division is set to be stripped of funding as the president-elect seeks to shift focus away from home in favor of deep space exploration. That previous president eliminated all climate change research conducted by NASA as part of a crackdown on politicized science, his senior adviser on issues relating to the space agency has said.
NASA Earth Science is set to be stripped of funding in favor of exploration of deep space, with the president-elect having set a goal during the campaign to explore the entire solar system by the end of the century. This would mean the elimination of NASA world-renowned research into temperature, ice, clouds and other climate phenomena. NASA network of satellites provide a wealth of information on climate change, with the Earth Science Division budget set to grow to $2 billion next year. By comparison, space exploration has been scaled back somewhat, with a proposed budget of $2.8 billion in 2017.
Bob Walker, a senior campaign adviser for that previous president, said there was no need for NASA to do what he has previously described as politically correct environmental monitoring. They see NASA in an exploration role, in deep space research, Walker told the Guardian. Earth-centric science is better placed at other agencies where it is their prime mission NOAA?
He guessed that it would be difficult to stop all ongoing NASA programs but future programs should definitely be placed with other agencies. He believes that climate research is necessary but it has been heavily politicized, which has undermined a lot of the work that researchers have been doing. That previous president's decisions were be based upon solid science, not politicized science. That previous president has previously said that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese, although on Tuesday he said there is some connectivity between human actions and the climate. They will hopefully get up to speed soon .... .
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