Environmental/Government News #2: 3/29/25

 Hello again! Apologies for the wait, school has been quite busy recently. Today, I'd like to share some of the recent government/environmental news from the past few weeks. 

The ATA, or Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, is a yearly assessment made by U.S. spy agencies which details worldwide threats to the U.S. 4 days ago, on March 25th, the 2025 issue was published, and for the first time in 10 years, Climate Change was not one of the threats listed. This removal is largely tied to the Trump Administration, who is moving to remove Climate Action from the federal agenda. When questioned at the Senate Intelligence Committee, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said, "What I focused this annual threat assessment on, and the [Intelligence Committee] focused this threat assessment on, are the most extreme and critical direct threats to our national security." In my opinion, this removal is unjustified. While climate change is not as immediate danger as global conflicts or violent crime, climate change is getting worse every day that nothing is done about it. Climate change is not only getting worse, its effects are also starting to show. Animals like turtles, polar bears, and whale are having their habitats destroyed. Natural disasters cause hundreds of millions in damages, and force mass dislocation and death. The effects of climate change are extremely real, and the ignorance of the government to them seems very negligent.

This focus away from environmental issues is not only theoretical, but also being acted upon. On March 4th, the Trump Administration halted funding for the NIH, or the National Institutes of Health for research on climate change and its health impacts. The NIH helped research impacts of wildfires, heat stress, and disease on humans. I think defunding the NIH is unjust and shows a lack of care for the people of the United States. The government's blatant shift aware from acknowledging environmental threats is threating jobs, health, and the environment itself. 

 The burial of climate change as a priority seems like a step backwards from the sustainable, healthy environment that many from my generation hoped to create. Alas, only time will tell how big of an impact that this decision will have on the environment, and more importantly, us. 

This week's (not so) fun fact: By 2050, its estimated there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish (measured by weight)

Thank you for reading!

-Oscar











Sources:

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-generate-e89a9d80-0986-11f0-b17b-e10d5f5a601f

https://time.com/7272152/climate-change-national-security-threat/?t=1743091470

https://www.theverge.com/news/635322/health-climate-change-funding-trump-nih-hhs

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