2025-06-06
14 分钟For Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman.
About 317 billion times per year,
members of the U.S. public check the weather on their phones, TVs, or some other source.
Those updates and alerts do everything from saving campers from rainy days to saving lives during big disasters.
But what most of us don't realize is that behind those forecasts,
there's a single, often invisible engine.
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service.
Now, this federal agency,
which serves as the backbone of U.S. forecasting, is under threat.
What happens when the country's most trusted source of extreme weather alerts can't staff the night shift?
Our guest today is Andrea Thompson, editor at Scientific American,
who covers the environment, energy, and earth sciences.
She's here to talk about how deep staffing cuts and proposed funding reductions are straining this vital agency right as the summer months begin,
bringing the threat of tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires.
Thanks so much for coming to chat with us today.
Thanks for having me.
So let's start with a basic question.
What is the National Weather Service?
What do they do for us?
So the National Weather Service is really what provides.