By admin 
The Trump administration has pulled federal support from the Arctic Report Card, an annual, peer-reviewed report that has been published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration since 2006.
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NOAA will no longer provide administrative support for the report, though NOAA scientists and programs will continue to collect climate data, said a statement released by the agency on Tuesday.
“Coordination of the 2026 Arctic Report Card will not be facilitated through NOAA,” the statement said. “All data historically contributed by NOAA to the product will continue to be collected and will remain publicly available.”
“The Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing Arctic Research Program will continue to support observations, models and products that contribute to national security, weather prediction, safety of navigation, and the economic vitality of coastal communities,” the statement continued, naming one of NOAA’s programs.
The report card is typically released in mid-December and has been a regular NOAA service since the administration of former President George W. Bush.
It synthesizes peer-reviewed studies about Arctic conditions such as sea ice extent and thickness, air temperature, vegetation changes, glacial melt, marine productivity and the status of Arctic wildlife species. In recent years, the report has included special chapters on Indigenous knowledge and concerns.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks is a major contributor to the report. Rick Thoman, a scientist with UAF’s Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness, is one of the three main editors.
In , about two-thirds of the chapters had lead or contributing authors from Alaska, usually from UAF but also from other Alaska-based institutions like the University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Southeast, the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island and the Alaska-based offices of the National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey.
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The NOAA decision leaves Arctic scientists and scientific institutions with a challenge of trying to put out their own annual report without NOAA’s support, said Melody Brown Burkins, a polar scientist and director of Dartmouth College’s Institute of Arctic Studies.
“The people coming together and talking about the state of the Arctic, it’s too valuable to lose. So I think we are immediately moving to ‘How do we continue this.’ I don’t think we know yet,” said Burkins, who grew up in Fairbanks.
The Arctic Report Card has been a critical tool used to inform decisions and policies about the fastest-warming part of the world, she said. The NOAA support that put all the Arctic knowledge in one place in a publicly accessible way has “been pulled out from under our feet,” she said.
“But that doesn’t mean the planet stops changing and the Arctic has stopped changing and the science has stopped happening or the humans have stopped trying to live up there and have thriving lives,” she said.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said NOAA’s withdrawal from the project is bad for Alaskans.
“For 20 years, the Arctic Report Card has helped Alaskans track the profound changes taking place across our state. Through this work, we have learned more about the tundra shifting from a carbon sink to a carbon source, thawing permafrost, changing sea ice, and coastal erosion, all of which have helped shape policies to support our fisheries and communities across the region,” Murkowski said in a statement.
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