BREAKING: Regional Climate Center Products and Services Are Being Suspended. Why It Is a BIG Fu*king Deal.

Some Regional Climate Centers stopped providing services. The rest could follow — just as climate disasters are accelerating.

For nearly fifty years, the six Regional Climate Centers (RCCs) across the United States have been a critical part of our climate resilience system. Quietly, steadily, they have provided the localized data that farmers, city planners, utilities, emergency managers, and public health officials depend on to prepare for a changing climate.

Today, that system is beginning to fall apart.

Funding cuts have already forced some Regional Climate Centers to stop operating. Others are at risk. The backbone of America's localized climate response is crumbling — right when we need it the most.

Here is what is being lost.

First, we are losing localized climate intelligence.
Each RCC specializes in translating national climate data into region-specific information, for example, rainfall trends in the Northeast, wildfire risks in the West, drought projections in the Plains. Without these centers, communities will have to rely on broad, national reports that are too generalized to protect lives and infrastructure at the local level. Critical gaps will open in how we track extreme rainfall, coastal flooding, snowpack decline, and more.

Second, early warning systems are weakening.
The RCCs are integral to monitoring droughts, floods, heat waves, and wildfire conditions. Their work helps deliver advanced warnings that save lives and reduce economic losses. With centers shutting down, the time between threat detection and community action will grow and the consequences will be measured in lives lost, businesses closed, and billions of dollars in damages.

Third, adaptation efforts are grinding to a halt.
From smarter crop planting schedules to resilient floodplain planning, adaptation depends on up-to-date regional climate data. RCCs have been quietly helping states, cities, and industries make those adjustments for decades. Without them, climate adaptation becomes slower, more expensive, and less effective, which makes communities more vulnerable as climate impacts accelerate.

Fourth, the economic costs will explode.
The modest investments that kept RCCs running saved tens of billions of dollars by preventing losses from floods, droughts, and other climate disasters. Without that early intelligence, failures in infrastructure, agriculture, energy systems, and water management will become more frequent and more costly.

Fifth, public understanding and trust are eroding.
RCCs played a vital role in translating complex climate science into clear, accessible information. They helped bridge the gap between global climate models and the lived experiences of Americans. As they disappear, confusion and misinformation will only grow, particularly in rural communities that often trusted the regional voices of their RCC more than distant national agencies.

This is not a future risk. It is already happening.

Regional Climate Centers are going dark. Data streams are being lost. Expertise is vanishing. And all of it is happening quietly, under the radar, even as floods, wildfires, droughts, and extreme storms are getting worse. America is losing the very system that could have helped save lives and protect economies in the climate era. The choice is stark: rebuild and strengthen our early warning and resilience systems, or accept a future of unnecessary suffering and economic loss.

There is no third option.

---

I am proud to be part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please support our work.