| | | Extreme Temperature Diary- Sunday September 7th, 2025/ Main Topic: Two Valuable Climate Satellites May Be Scrapped Because of Trump. – Guy On Climate
Dear Diary. In the United States we are progressively seeing darker times in association with just about everything because of Trump, and that includes climate science. Over the last few months from time to time I have highlighted on several diary posts how the Trump Administration has tried to defund climate science research and kill climate programs in association with NOAA and NASA. This in an all-out effort to keep fossil fuel spigots flowing by pointing to no real climate problem.
Speaking of NASA, recently new satellites have been launched to measure carbon in the atmosphere. Trump and his fossil fuel conies would dearly love to defund these even though they are functional and already in space. Here are more details from New York Times:
The Trump Administration Wants to Switch Off Climate Satellites – The New York Times
Two Valuable Satellites Are in ‘Perfect Health.’ They May Be Scrapped.The Trump administration wants to switch off and possibly destroy the climate-monitoring technology. Some of the satellite technology at risk of being defunded is attached to the International Space Station.Credit…NASA
 By Sachi Kitajima Mulkey
Sept. 5, 2025
Starting back in the Bush administration, the United States has spent more than $800 million launching powerful climate-monitoring satellite technology into space.
The satellites, known as the Orbiting Carbon Observatory missions, came with huge risks. In 2009 the first launch attempt failed, incinerating a satellite. But two later missions were successful, and today the satellites are in “perfect health,” according to a government report issued in January.
Now, however, the Trump administration wants to scrap them as a money-saving measure.
It’s like buying a car “and then running it into a tree after a few years, just to save the price of tank of gas,” said David Crisp, a former scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory who led the missions to launch the satellites, which help monitor plant life and greenhouse gases and are used by forecasters, farmers and scientists.
He noted that most of the expense of the satellites was at the front end. “They cost a vast amount to build,” he said. But, once in orbit, “they cost a fraction of that a year to operate.” The satellites have more than a decade of life left in them, Dr. Crisp said.
In May, the Trump administration proposed to cut NASA’s 2026 budget by 25 percent and to cut spending for Earth and climate science in half. Bethany Stevens, the NASA spokeswoman, said the president’s 2026 budget aimed to realign the agency with the “core mission of space exploration.”
At other science agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation, the administration has also asked Congress to shrink spending for next year. A smaller budget request “provides ample resources to advance our mission while cutting through bureaucratic bloat and agenda-driven programs that dilute NOAA’s impact,” said Kim Doster, the agency’s spokeswoman.
Congress has resisted the Trump administration’s proposed cuts. Budget bills currently under consideration in both chambers would restore funding at all three agencies to near-current levels. Still, weeks remain before a final funding package is approved and the numbers could change.
Some agencies are already preparing to follow the president’s version of the budget, such as making plans to turn off satellites, according to two senior officials at federal science agencies who requested anonymity out of concern over retribution.
In July, 64 Democratic members of Congress wrote a letter to Sean Duffy, the acting NASA administrator, calling for the agency to not implement any budget cuts without Congressional approval.
 The OCO 2 shortly before it went into space. Credit…Mark Mackley/NASA
 Preparing for a launch in 2014. Credit…Mark Mackley/NASA
The two satellites provide precise global measurements of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that is warming the world. The data has been used in climate reports issued by both the United States and the United Nations and has been an important resource for other countries as they assess ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The Trump administration has taken numerous steps to weaken or eliminate regulations and research projects designed to reduce planet-warming pollution. It has rolled back clean air and clean water regulations on industry and has moved to kill a scientific conclusion known as the endangerment finding, which provides the basis for the federal government to regulate greenhouse gases on the grounds that they endanger public health.
Before the Orbiting Carbon Observatory missions were approved by the George W. Bush administration in 2002, scientists relied on Earth-based sensors to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide. (The longest-running monitoring station, the Mauna Loa observatory, would also be eliminated in the NOAA budget proposal.)
More on the Mauna Loa Observatory
 Battling Lava and Snowstorms, 2.5 Miles Above the Pacific
Ever since an eruption in Hawaii halted a long-running record of carbon dioxide, scientists have found ways to carry on — atop a neighboring volcano.
Feb. 6, 2023
 After 7 Decades of Measurements From a Peak in Hawaii, Trump’s Budget Would End Them
Closing Mauna Loa and three other U.S. sites that track greenhouse gases would disrupt a decades-long record of the planet’s changing atmosphere.
July 17, 2025
After the first OCO satellite failed to launch in 2009, Dr. Crisp went back to Congress and won approval to try again. That produced a satellite known as OCO 2, one of the two that the Trump administration wants to turn off.
One could end up incinerating in the Earth’s atmosphere if it were decommissioned. The other monitoring device, known as OCO 3, was built out of OCO 2’s spare parts and orbits the Earth affixed to the International Space Station.
Together, the two satellites produce data that helps scientists understand where atmospheric carbon dioxide comes from, where it goes, and where plant life is thriving. The data can also be used to monitor wildfires, ocean health and agricultural outlooks.
“We built these satellites and got them approved and got taxpayer dollars to build them because they serve critical functions in commerce, in national security, in food security, in water security,” Dr. Crisp said.
Without funding to operate them, the two missions are at risk of going offline along with three older missions — known as Terra, Aqua, and Aura — that are also still producing valuable climate and weather data. Another imperiled mission that monitors the atmosphere, Sage III, has been attached to the International Space Station since 2017.
A satellite can be decommissioned in a number of ways. The youngest missions potentially affected by the president’s proposed budget cuts, OCO 3 and SAGE 3, would likely just be turned off, since they are on the space station. As for the other satellite, OCO 2, the fastest option for ending its mission would be to fly it down into Earth’s atmosphere, where it would burn up upon re-entry.
 Artist’s depiction of the OCO 2 satellite in orbit. Credit…NASA/JPL-Caltech
 A part of the monitoring equipment that was eventually attached to the International Space Station. Credit…NASA/JPL-Caltech
Dr. Crisp said there was another option, though it comes with risks that could damage the satellite. Essentially it would involve trying to park the satellite in a lower orbit. It would no longer be producing data, but putting it on standby in this way could potentially preserve it for future use.
Employees at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory who work on the satellites consulted with him about this possibility, he said, given his knowledge of the satellite designs. Parking the satellite in a lower orbit would be a way to meet the Trump administration’s budget priorities without destroying the taxpayer investment, he said.
Still, the data stream that scientists, farmers and others rely on would be interrupted. There are no other satellites with the same monitoring capabilities.
The measurement network that we currently have is very fragile and not as resilient as people think it is,” said Ben Poulter, a senior scientist studying greenhouse gas emissions Spark Climate Solutions, a nonprofit group. He was formerly deputy director of the Biden administration’s Greenhouse Gas Measurement Monitoring Reporting and Verification program.
This scarcity was illustrated in 2023, when the Lahaina fire devastated Maui, Hawaii. Because the timing of satellites passing over didn’t line up with the blaze, he said, “What you ended up having was one of the most catastrophic fires that the U.S. has had, and not enough observations from space.” Services provided by the satellites, like understanding disasters in real time or getting weather forecasts on our phones, he said, is “something we take for granted.”
If you terminate one satellite mission and then try to start another one, it’s scientifically difficult to account for the gap in the data, said Steve Volz, assistant administrator for the NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “That’s why continuity and bridging missions across different generations is really important,” he said.
The United States has long been a leader in greenhouse gas monitoring technology, particularly in space. While countries like China and Japan also have climate monitoring satellites, OCO 2 and OCO 3 are more precise.
The Europeans have recently launched one satellite, MicroCarb, that has similar capabilities, and are working to launch another, Sentinel 7. “We’re riding on the shoulders of giants, to certain extent, by developing our own missions,” said Mark Drinkwater, former head of earth science at the European Space Agency.
The United States and Europe in the past have collaborated on technologies and the satellites were designed to complement U.S. monitoring efforts and to create a more complete understanding of the planet, he said.
Sentinel 7, Europe’s best bet at matching the operational capacity of OCO 2, won’t begin providing data for a couple of years.
Kenneth Chang contributed reporting.
Sachi Kitajima Mulkey covers climate and the environment for The Times.
Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
EUROPE-NORTH AFRICA HEAT WAVES
Record heat from Spain,Algeria to Finland and Estonia
MINIMUM temperatures up to 32C in ALGERIA even close to the coast today.
in SPAIN extremely hot night in Basque Country and Balearic Islands.
ESTONIA RECORD HIGH MINS
17.4 Valga
16.8 Jogeva — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T18:23:21.797Z
EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN MIDDLE EAST
Records smashed in pieces specially in IRAN
48.5C at Bushehr (min 31.4C) right on the coast destroys its September record of highest temperature.
Far hotter conditions ahead,close to the latest 50C in world's history. — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T15:56:23.455Z
CENTRAL/SOUTH/WEST ASIA
Never ending record heat in SRI LANKA:
Today 36.5C Habantota- September hottest day in history (data since 1880)
INDIA 38.8C Bapatla yesterday:Hottest September day
MIDDLE EAST Record hot nights
Min 34/35C Kuwait,Iran and Oman
min 33.5 Al Amerat RECORD — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T12:55:41.555Z
ENDLESS SCORCHING HEAT IN JAPAN
New day,new records with temperatures >37C and extremely hot and humid nights in Japan.
Today's September records:
37.1 Saito
36.3 Mikado
35.9 Akae
35.5 Innai
34.9 Ume
More records next days ! — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T06:35:54.322Z
EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN KOREAS
Another brutally hot and humid night with records of highest minimums destroyed in pieces:
28.4 Gosan
27.8 Wando
27.4 Mokpo
27.2 Tonghae
26.7 Heuksando
26.6 Ulsan
20.3 Taegwallyong 842m asl
Thousands of records have fallen in the area since June. — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T00:51:36.410Z
AUSTRALIA BETWEEN COLD AND WARMTH
Some more September records in the past 3 days (mostly new stations):
LOWEST MINIMUMS
-2.6 Coonawarra
-3.2 Horsham Aero
0.7 Breakwater
-3.3 Grove
2.0 Dunalley
LOWEST MAX
22.6 Varanus Island
HIGHEST MINIMUM
25.6 Scherger Raaf — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T11:51:49.695Z
Cool morning in the French tropical island of Reunion:
13.5C at St Denis (0.7C from all time low) and dew points <10C
Max. temp. rose >27C (2C below heat record)
Very different conditions at Le Port (see Meteo France map)
With a massive Mountain range Reunion Island is very rich of microclimates — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T14:05:20.118Z
INSANE ARCTIC WARMTH
Absolutely mind blowing and unprecedented this endless record warmth in the Arctic Russia:
Today +6.6C at Vize Island 79,3N
It ties the HIGHEST AUTUMN temperature in history few weeks after breaking the all time summer record.
Last freezing was July 16th ! — Extreme Temperatures Around the World (@extremetemps.bsky.social) 2025-09-06T22:55:00.706Z
August 2025 was the third warmest August on record after 2023 and 2024 at approximately 1.3C above preindustrial levels.
This continues a string of recent months a bit cooler than the exceptional 2023/2024 temperatures but warmer than any prior years. — Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T15:00:56.000Z
With only four months of the year still to report, I estimate that 2025 will be either the second (~33% chance) or third (~66% chance) warmest year on record. There is effectively zero chance that it will set a new record or be lower than the third warmest at this point. — Zeke Hausfather (@hausfath.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T15:01:03.000Z
This summer, there were 83 wildfires across London - over *three times* as many as in the summer of 2020.
The climate crisis is on our doorstep. I am determined to do everything possible to ensure we are prepared for the ongoing impact of wildfires and extreme heat. — Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@london.gov.uk) 2025-09-07T15:26:03.831Z
Capitalism & #ClimateChange; #Heat ClubMed; AMOC Update; #Renewables Stabilize Supply; The Carbon Capture Scam; The Long Stall by #FossilFuel Companies; 10x more likely; Voyaging Dust & Climate. These stories and more courtesy @climateguyw.bsky.social
guyonclimate.com/2025/09/06/e... — Silicon Valley North - Citizens Climate Lobby (@cclsvn.bsky.social) 2025-09-06T22:47:00.304Z
Read This Letter to the Editor @mercurynews.com by Gita Dev
San Francisco Bay's Ecosystems and Sea Level Rise Challenge — Silicon Valley North - Citizens Climate Lobby (@cclsvn.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T16:30:58.320Z
I found this history fascinating, especially how the US under Bush I a) pushed to create the IPCC to center government representatives, not scientists, in UN climate action; b) used the IPCC to block binding emission targets and carbon taxes on rich countries, which seemed imminent in 1988. — Kevin J. Kircher (@kevinjkircher.com) 2025-09-06T17:35:55.697Z
Crossing climate tipping points, such as ice sheet loss and AMOC collapse, becomes possible beyond 1.5°C
To prevent this, emissions cuts need to speed up
Could +ve tipping points, shifts to zero-emissions technology and behaviour, foster self-sustaining change?
theconversation.com/how-to-help-... — Ian Hall (@ianhall.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T05:23:46.770Z
This was the driest August for the Northeast (U.S.) since 1957. 🌵 — Climatologist49 (@climatologist49.bsky.social) 2025-09-05T05:51:50.485Z
This was the driest August for the Northeast (U.S.) since 1957. 🌵 — Climatologist49 (@climatologist49.bsky.social) 2025-09-05T05:51:50.485Z
“It’s really about a communitywide effort. You can do all the right things, and if your neighbors’ homes are not protected at all, that can create a really big risk.” Lessons Learned and Applied:
www.mercurynews.com/2025/09/07/p... — Silicon Valley North - Citizens Climate Lobby (@cclsvn.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T16:28:51.050Z
Point being, you'll never be able to add that kind of capacity with Nuclear or even Gas-Fired Power Plants that quickly. Speed is another advantage of #renewables to close any energy gap. — Silicon Valley North - Citizens Climate Lobby (@cclsvn.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T16:32:49.793Z
Net Zero: saving our world and saving money. Now there's a win-win - if only voters knew about it.
"New modelling from BloombergNEF suggests investing just 0.7 per cent of GDP in the net zero transition could unlock huge financial savings - and avert a rolling climate crisis." — Gregory Norminton (@gregorynorminton.bsky.social) 2025-09-04T15:17:21.030Z
If this is viable in Germany where winters are cloudy image the payoff in Australia and even Tasmania… — Steven Dover (@stevendover.bsky.social) 2025-07-20T23:14:10.579Z
Battery storage unlock #renewables
#battery costs driving down renewable power costs.
www.irena.org/News/article... — Dr Paul Dorfman (@drpauldorfman.bsky.social) 2025-09-06T08:02:27.174Z
Weekend Warriors, #BlueCrew, #Resistors: More ‘catch up’ calls to Congress: — Mark Pickens (@airshipwriter.bsky.social) 2025-09-06T23:17:16.965Z
Get to know @5calls.org and @resist.bot to push back. — Mark Pickens (@airshipwriter.bsky.social) 2025-09-06T23:28:46.013Z
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