German Supercomputer Center to Preserve U.S. Climate Simulations from Political Tampering
The German Climate Computing Center in Hamburg is adding storage to host backup copies of U.S. climate simulations ahead of the next U.N. assessment. The move is a response to the Trump administration's cuts and suppression of climate research. Scientists hope the archive will ensure critical data remains intact and accessible.
The DKRZ facility currently holds 254 petabytes of climate data, and the new racks will add roughly 5 petabytes specifically for U.S. simulation backups. The German Research Foundation has allocated $35 million to fund this effort, which includes six other projects beyond the CMIP7-ark initiative, such as SHIELD and SEND. These backup operations respond to concerns that U.S. climate data could be deleted or manipulated under the current administration, which has already removed climate references from government websites and restricted satellite data collection. The backups will support U.S. researchers who continue contributing to the IPCC's seventh assessment, even though the U.S. government withdrew from both the IPCC and the UNFCCC in January.
This backup effort could preserve critical climate research for the 2029 UN assessment, ensuring that scientific findings remain available to researchers worldwide regardless of U.S. political shifts. If successful, it may set a precedent for international scientific cooperation during political turbulence, potentially influencing how other nations protect shared research. However, it also highlights growing transatlantic distrust, which could complicate future climate negotiations and collaborative science efforts.