Atmosphere of Pressure: Political Interference in Federal Climate Science

The document describes a 'system-wide epidemic' of political interference in federal climate science, where 150 out of 279 surveyed scientists reported at least 435 occurrences of interference over five years. Examples include the watering down of NASA press releases, the cancellation of NOAA media plans, and the use of 'minders' to monitor scientist interviews. While 88% of respondents believe the quality of federal climate science remains strong, they report a 'chilling effect' and warn that funding cuts to long-term monitoring threaten future research. The Union of Concerned Scientists recommends strengthening whistleblower protections and ensuring scientists have the final review of communications regarding their findings.

• Political interference in climate science is described as a "system-wide epidemic" affecting seven federal agencies. A survey of 279 federal scientists found that 150 reported experiencing at least 435 instances of political interference in their work over a five-year period.
• Specific instances of interference include the Office of Management and Budget altering NOAA documents to misrepresent climate change science for responses to Senators Daniel Inouye and Frank Lautenberg, and the use of "minders" to monitor interviews with NASA and other federal scientists.
• Interference has manifested in the suppression of communication, such as NASA press officers watering down language in Dr. Drew Shindell's paper on Antarctica to make it no longer newsworthy, and the cancellation of a NOAA scientist's media plan regarding human influence on ocean warming.
• While 88% of surveyed scientists believe the quality of federal climate science is still strong, they report a "chilling effect" on research. Additionally, the National Academies of Science noted that funding cuts to long-term climate monitoring may create "irretrievable gaps" in data sets.
• The document asserts that political interference is not limited to climate science, citing examples of distortion and suppression in issues such as childhood lead poisoning, toxic mercury contamination, and endangered species determinations at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (n.d.). Atmosphere of Pressure: Political Interference in Federal Climate Science. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/faq-s.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Atmosphere of Pressure: Political Interference in Federal Climate Science. n.d. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/faq-s.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Atmosphere of Pressure: Political Interference in Federal Climate Science |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/faq-s.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientistsndatmosphere, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Atmosphere of Pressure: Political Interference in Federal Climate Science}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/legacy/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/faq-s.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }