Climate.gov was destroyed. Open data saved it.

Link: Trump dismantled a federal climate website. These women rebuilt it., by Jenae Barnes at The 19thThis shouldn’t have been necessary, but is still wonderful to see. Climate.gov had been the go-to resource for climate data, but it went offline when the Trump Administration radically cut NOAA’s funding. At that point:“[Rebecca] Lindsey joined forces with former NOAA employees Anna Eshelman, and Mary Lindsey, her older sister, to become the core team behind the deactivated site’s successor, Climate.us, preserving over 15 years of key climate data and resources. The trove features key maps, educational materials and climate indicator reports, including the now-deleted Fifth National Climate Assessment, the government’s most comprehensive analysis of climate change that was at risk of being lost to the public.”This is possible because US government data is public domain by law. Had it not been available under a permissive license, the administration’s act of vandalism would have meant…