by Daniel Brouse
May 24, 2025
For nearly 60 years, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has been one of the world’s leading climate research centers. Tucked atop a Columbia University building in Manhattan since 1966, it played a pivotal role in the early modeling of climate change, helped interpret Earth-observing satellite data, and was once home to an IBM supercomputer so large it took up an entire floor.
It was also the professional home of Dr. James Hansen, the scientist who in 1988 famously warned Congress that global warming had already begun—arguably the moment modern climate policy was born. Hansen’s leadership made GISS a powerhouse of climate science, building data models and forecasts that have been used by researchers and policymakers around the globe.
But in a disturbing turn, the Trump administration has ordered the closure of GISS’s Manhattan facility by May 31, abruptly ending the lease that has kept the institute operating in the heart of New York City. Over 130 staff members are now being forced into remote work with no clarity about the lab’s long-term future. The move comes amid Trump’s ongoing crusade to suppress climate science, including efforts to slash NASA’s Earth Science budget in half.
“They are trying to kill the messenger with the bad news,” said Hansen, denouncing the closure. “It’s crazy.”
A Pattern of Denial and Destruction
This closure is not an isolated decision. It’s part of a long-standing pattern of science suppression by Donald Trump, who has repeatedly dismissed climate change as a hoax:
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In 2012, he tweeted: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
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In 2015, he declared: “I’m not a big believer in man-made climate change.”
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In 2016, he called climate science “bullshit.”
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During his presidency, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, gutted the EPA, and rolled back over 100 environmental protections.
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His administration also attempted to censor scientific reports, bury climate assessments, and promote fossil fuel use as a central economic strategy.
The closure of GISS is the latest step in that agenda—a symbolic and strategic blow to the heart of American climate science.
Why GISS Matters
GISS is not just another lab—it is one of the world’s most trusted centers for climate monitoring. It has produced global temperature records used by the IPCC, world governments, and even defense agencies. The loss of its physical presence doesn’t just inconvenience scientists—it undermines credibility, collaboration, and continuity in vital climate research.
As climate change accelerates—with 2023 and 2024 ranking among the hottest years in recorded history—the need for independent, science-based institutions like GISS has never been greater.
Silencing Science Is a Threat to Society
The danger of Trump’s denialism goes far beyond budget cuts or facility closures. It erodes public trust in science, spreads disinformation, and delays action at a time when every fraction of a degree of warming matters. While wildfires burn, seas rise, and deadly floods claim lives around the world, Trump and his allies continue to deny, defund, and dismantle the very institutions alerting us to these dangers.
Trump’s strategy is clear: delegitimize the evidence so you can ignore the consequences. Shuttering GISS is just the latest way to do it—by tearing down the infrastructure of knowledge, you don’t have to confront the truth.
Conclusion: The Cost of Denial
History will remember Dr. James Hansen and GISS as pioneers who tried to warn the world. Whether history will remember our political leaders as enablers or protectors of that truth is still being written.
To shut down GISS is not just to close a building—it is to close our eyes to the unfolding crisis. And that’s not just “crazy,” as Hansen says—it’s catastrophic.