Lauren Fuge
Decisions of the US government to reduce science capacity are already disrupting Australia’s meteorological capabilities, according to a statement by Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS).
“The ability of the Bureau of Meteorology to produce accurate forecasts and warnings is built upon a global system of sharing data and expertise,” says Martin S. Singh, President of AMOS.
A large chunk of this data comes from observational systems funded and launched by the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – for example, the Argo array, comprising 4000 ocean-monitoring robots, or the synchronised daily weather balloon launches that contribute to launches at 1300 locations around the world.
“There have been reports of NOAA having insufficient capacity to do routine weather balloon launches at certain stations as a result of staff shortages,” Singh says. “The data from ballon launches like this around the world are fed into the Bureau’s computer model every day to initialise its forecasts.
“While the impact of the loss of a few stations is small, AMOS is concerned about larger impacts in the future. Will NOAA maintain the capability to share its data? To service its observational network?
“If nations do not continue strong funding for research and operations in the atmosphere and ocean domains, capacity to forecast will suffer everywhere.”
Singh has issued a statement “in solidarity” with US meteorologists.
It follows reports over the past fortnight of Australian scientists receiving a questionnaire from United States authorities, asking them to disclose their research projects’ “compatibility” with US foreign and domestic policy.
The questionnaire was distributed by various US federal agencies to Australian scientists working on projects that are jointly funded by the US.
As reported on Friday by The Guardian, which obtained and published a copy of the questionnaire, it comprises 36 questions, including about DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion); project links to China, whether the project is “a climate or ‘environmental’ project”, whether the project is taking “appropriate measures” to “protect women and to defend against gender ideology,” and more.
In a statement released yesterday, the Australian Academy of Science’s (AAS) President Chennupati Jagadish urges the Australian Government to pay immediate attention to the actions of the US and how they impact scientific research here.
He is concerned the requested disclosures may have “negative repercussions for Australia’s strategic capability and advancement, and would contravene Australian laws and international statutes that govern science.”
This follows a wave of upset in the scientific community in the US, after President Trump signed an executive order calling for the termination of all diversity, equity and inclusion policies across the federal government
Jagadish says that the survey of Australian scientists “indicates that US Government funded research in Australia could be terminated because an Australian institution – not the research project – has links with several named countries, or links with the United Nations and its agencies, or impacts the protection and promotion of specific religions, amongst other factors”.
Australian institutions have already been impacted by US funding freezes, as Group of Eight’s chief executive Vicki Thomson told the ABC, saying that the US had “suspended or terminated research grants with six of the eight member universities”.
The US is Australia’s largest research partner.
“In 2024 alone, US Government research funding involving Australian research organisations totalled $386 million,” AAS’s Jagadish says in the statement. “As a minimum it is the equivalent to 43 per cent of the funding the Australian Government provides in research grants via the Australian Research Council.”
About 40% of Australian physical science publications and 25% of Australian biomedical and clinical publications involve US collaborators.
And many of the Australian-US research collaborations are lifesaving. For example, US biotech company Moderna established an mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility in Melbourne in 2024 – the first in the southern hemisphere.
The AAS urges the Australian Government to “actively and urgently engage with its American counterparts to mitigate risks and minimise the impact on Australian strategic capability”.
They also call for the government to remain committed to avoiding foreign interference in Australian research activities; to provide strategic guidance to research institutions where scientists are considering their responses; to respond to potential restrictions resulting from the DEIA initiatives; and to diversify Australia’s research collaborations beyond the US.
“A wait-and-see approach could leave us dangerously unprepared,” the AAS says. “The consequences of inaction are profound.”
In their own statement, AMOS further warns that “recent cuts to science in the United States would affect public safety and the economy – not just in Australia but across the world”, specifically citing the lay-offs at NOAA.
“We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in the United States and join their call for strong support for NOAA and the other US science agencies and extreme caution in altering governmental roles and responsibilities for monitoring and forecasting the atmosphere and oceans.”