A climate research facility in my area is being closed and I am pissed about it. Meanwhile, lights across the Front Range are out due to extreme weather events. Ha. Ha. Ha. Choose a metaphor that's less on-the-nose next time, won't you God?

Post made 18/12/25

One December morning, about 57 Decembers ago in fact, one Brazil's most read newspapers wanted to break the news to readers that the military dictatorship in place had effectively legalized censorship and torture. The weather forecast read:

"Previsão do tempo: Tempo negro. Temperatura sufocante. O ar está irrespirável. O país está sendo varrido por fortes ventos." ("Weather forecast: dark times. Suffocating temperature. The air is unbreathable. The nation is being swept by strong winds.")

For the past couple of days, my area has been without power. My part of the nation is, quite literally, being swept by strong winds. This weather forecast still seems to hold up on this December afternoon.

As of today, it appears that the Trump administration has decided to shut down the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a "global mothership" of climate research. This research center is crucial to nationwide weather forecasting, and if it is shut down, we as American citizens will be less in the know in regard to extreme weather events (which, are likely to only increase, as climate change is only creating harsher and harsher weather conditions). NCAR acts as both a climate research facility and a means to inform the climate predicting models that we see in our day to day lives. NCAR also informs national defense programs and tools, and generations of STEM researchers have been in some way familiarized and trained off of NCAR's methods, datasets, and research. Trump plans on dismantling one of the world's most prestigious research facilities, likely simply because it contains the word "climate".

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) facility, based in Boulder, Colorado.

Meanwhile, this week, Colorado has reported some of the highest wind gusts in recent times. My town has experienced wind gusts of ~90-100 MPH. I've walked out of my powerless apartment building to find branches and debris strewn out onto the street. The power was out for over 24 hours. Power only came back on about 3 hours ago, and the company in charge of our energy grid will be shutting down power for a second time tomorrow morning. The food in my fridge will rot. I do not make a livable wage, I struggle enough to buy food as it is, and the food in my fridge will rot. Even the meat in my freezer that I have been saving for months for special occasions, all of it will go to waste.

If this is an extreme weather event that was predicted, what the fuck does everyone think will happen as a result of an extreme weather event that is UNPREDICTED??? Do our conservative-voting Americans truly believe the assumption that defunding this climate research will not drain their pockets as well? Those in charge of making decisions such as the one to dismantle NCAR aren't going to be affected by this. They will fly to their fifth home in Bora Bora once shit starts to hit the fan. They have the luxury of withstanding the climate crisis and surviving in their technologically-advanced bunkers in fucking Switzerland. We do not have that luxury. The entirety of the food-supply chain cannot export itself to a Swiss bunker. The deer that my family hunts in order to survive cannot live in a Swiss bunker. The elderberries that I grew up picking cannot be grown in a Swiss bunker. Humanity cannot hunker down in some fucking Swiss bunker, and we shouldn't be made to if a man who has existed on this earth for nearly 8 decades cannot understand the meaning of the word "climate".

I truly believe that they are doing this on purpose. I don't care if it makes me sound like some insane conspiracy nuthead. The closing of NCAR admist power outages and extreme wind gusts is too on-the-nose. We cannot lose a research facility like this. We absolutely cannot.

The climate crisis will not appear as a swathe of mountainsides alit by flame. It will manifest itself as the scent of milk rotting in a pitch-black fridge. It is manifesting itself as juniper branches being flung into the headlights of incoming cars, and it manifested itself as the deliberate censorship and defunding of climate research. Fight for those who put their life's work into conducting research that fights for all of us. Return the favor. This week, it's supposed to get into the high 60s.

M.A.F.C., December 18th, 2025.