The following is the opinion and analysis of the writers:
Crystal McKenna
Charles MacCabe
A Dec. 10 article in the Daily Star described how references to human-caused recent climate change have been scrubbed from the EPA’s website. Other climate-related materials at other government sites have also disappeared or been sidelined. For example, the National Centers for Environmental Information no longer updates its billion-dollar weather and climate disaster information because of a realignment of “evolving priorities.” Climate.gov, the first stop for many of those who are searching for U.S. government information on climate change, was shut down by executive order in June 2025. And the Global Change Research Program website is now “inactive”.
Until recently, these and other government climate sites have been integral parts of the classes we teach at Pima Community College. The Trump Administration’s misguided efforts to hide the causes and consequences of recent climate change serve no public purpose other than to keep the public either ignorant or misinformed.
The rapid atmospheric warming we are witnessing is the result of an increase in greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, that results from burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Throughout Earth’s history, a warmer atmosphere has been correlated with increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Every year, an additional 37 gigatons of additional CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere by human activity. No natural process, whether increased solar radiation, Earth’s “Milankovitch cycles” (variations in its orbit, tilt, and axis of rotation), volcanic activity, or plate tectonics, accounts for the extraordinary increase in atmospheric carbon or the unprecedented rise in temperature. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s foremost body of climate scientists: "Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact."
Instead of embracing this reality and educating the public about the dangers posed by climate change and focusing on taking aggressive action away from fossil fuels, this Administration seeks to deny the firmly established scientific consensus and pretend that the increased heat and extreme weather we see with our own eyes are no cause for concern.
The young people we teach deserve to have factual, up-to-date information readily available as they move forward in their lives and careers. Apparently, we can no longer depend on the US government under this Administration to fulfill that obligation, and our students will be disadvantaged accordingly.
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