West LA Times

The recent mass firings of federal scientists, including those from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, have raised significant concerns about public safety. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA and UC ANR, is set to address these issues in a live briefing scheduled for this afternoon.

Swain will also provide updates on the wildfires affecting the Los Angeles area. Last week's rainstorm resulted in dangerous debris flows in burn areas. Fortunately, no lives were lost due to effective preparations facilitated by accurate weather forecasts. However, Swain warns that such forecasts are now at risk due to what he describes as "expanding chaos" within federal departments responsible for safeguarding the public against extreme weather conditions.

The briefing titled "YouTube Office Hours with Daniel Swain" will take place on Wednesday, February 19, at 4:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. ET. Viewers can participate by asking questions during the live chat or watch the recording afterward.

Swain has previously expressed his concerns regarding these federal firings. In a discussion on February 7, he warned about the potential dangers posed by anticipated budget cuts and staff reductions:

“A majority of federal employees hired in past 1–2 years have apparently been (or will be shortly) fired. This alarming move will severely & immediately compromise public safety, from disruption of severe weather warnings to pandemic prevention to nuclear incident response.”

“There were — as recently as yesterday [Thursday] — assurances that public safety and basic government continuity would not be compromised. Clearly, this is not the case: critical roles are now suddenly unstaffed, and chaos and deep uncertainty is spreading among those who remain (for now).”

“All of this this is in addition to massive cuts to scientific research that have been mandated in recent days. It’s hard to see this as anything other than an intentional decimation of critical public safety services, and also of science in general, in the U.S.”