In his California laboratory, Ralph Keeling examines a graph created from data his father began collecting that keeps a record of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.After 67 years, the fate of this “major indicator of climate change” is uncertain under President Donald Trump’s administration.The United States “needs this information, there’s no doubt about it,” the geochemistry professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego told AFP. His father, Charles David Keeling, decided in 1958 to measure atmospheric CO2 concentrations at the summit of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. This gave rise to the Keeling curve, which today represents the oldest continuous measurement of this greenhouse gas, which is produced by the burning of fossil fuels.This graph “showed early on that humans were having an impact on the whole planet,” even before the effects of climate change were palpable, Ralph Keeling said.Even as science as evolved, the project remains an essential climate watchdog. It provides a basis for thinking about how farmers can modify their crops in the face of a warming atmosphere, or how insurers can adapt their coverage to cope with increasingly fierce fires and more frequent flooding.”This is very rock solid data, but the program that makes this is fragile,” Keeling said.- ‘Concerning’ – Concerns arose in early March, when Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency recommended canceling the lease on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) office in Hawaii by the end of August. This office, located in the town of Hilo, is responsible for maintaining the measurements at the summit of Mauna Loa.But it’s not just buildings. NOAA, a key agency for American climate research, has been targeted by hundreds of layoffs since the return to the White House of Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax”.The administration also wants to cut the agency’s budget by $1.6 billion, according to documents revealed in mid-April by The New York Times. The plan also envisages eliminating the branch dedicated to oceanic and atmospheric research. “It’s concerning,” said Keeling. At the summit of Mauna Loa, an observatory houses machines from the Scripps Institute and NOAA, which simultaneously measure atmospheric CO2 concentrations at an altitude of 3,400 meters (11,000 feet). To ensure they’re working properly, local scientists also regularly collect air samples in glass carboys, following the method developed by Charles Keeling more than six decades ago in San Diego. Since then, other countries have begun recording the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, thanks to new methods sometimes involving satellites. But these alone are not enough, according to Keeling. “Although there’s a bigger community now, and there’s a constellation of methods being used, those additional efforts have assumed that this backbone from Scripps and NOAA is there,” he said.”A satellite measurement of CO2… gives you a lot of fine grained information, but it doesn’t give you reliable long term trends, and it doesn’t give you certain other measures that we can get from direct atmospheric measurements. “You have to ground truth it, you need the calibration.”- Attack on climate science – NOAA declined to comment on the potential impact of the proposed cuts on its program.”We are not discussing internal management matters and we do not do speculative interviews,” the agency told AFP.”NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience.”For Tim Lueker, who spent his career with the atmospheric measurement program launched by the Scripps Institute, that is cold comfort.The Trump administration “is not making these cuts to save money. It’s so transparent what’s going on,” he said.At 67, he is worried about a full-scale attack on climate science, with the government ordering the NOAA to identify funding for projects that mention the terms “climate crisis,” “clean energy,” “environmental quality,” or “pollution.””The idea of saving money… is kind of silly when you consider how much one fighter plane costs compared to the annual funding of NOAA Climate Research.”

In Silicon Valley, they talk about “moving fast and breaking things.” In Washington, these days, they call it Elon Musk doing his job.The one thing even Musk, the richest human alive, is not allowed to obtain under the US constitution is the presidency, because he was not born in the United States.But when Donald Trump charged him with downsizing the entire government, Musk scored a good second best.The South African-born 53-year-old’s official title is the non-descript “special government employee.” In reality, he is one of the most powerful individuals in the country.As Trump’s top financial supporter during last year’s election, Musk emerged over the first 100 days of the new administration with extraordinary access.The bulky figure, usually wearing a T-shirt and Trump-themed baseball cap, appeared alongside the president at cabinet meetings and Oval Office sessions. On golf weekends. On Marine One. On Air Force One.And he rode that authority to launch the cost-cutting, so-called Department of Government Efficiency.Unopposed by Trump’s pliant Republican majority in Congress, and barely slowed by lawsuits, the Tesla and SpaceX magnate hit the task with the manic energy of a venture capitalist.In a shock-and-awe campaign, he ripped through official Washington, canceling programs, raiding secretive computers, and portraying the US government as a seething mess of fraud.At one point Musk projected a staggering $2 trillion saving from the $7 trillion federal budget. This then became a $1 trillion target.And the number has quietly continued to dwindle, leaving Musk’s legacy uncertain — in more ways than one.As his Tesla car company posted a shocking 71 percent drop in first-quarter profits on Tuesday, Musk announced he would be reducing his White House gig.- Shock and awe -But the man who wants to colonize Mars is not prone to self-doubt.Musk has appeared all-powerful and at times — as his handpicked team of young IT wizards rampage through government computer systems — all-knowing.One of his first and splashiest moves was to send emails to 2.3 million civil servants, offering buyouts — and making clear their futures now hang by a thread.The email subject line, “Fork in the Road,” was the same as a similar email Musk sent out to employees at Twitter after he bought the social media company before drastically reducing jobs and rebranding it as X.Musk also demanded every single employee respond to a weekly email describing five things they’d accomplished. This, he said, was to check staff had a “pulse.”He jokingly brandished a shiny chainsaw gifted by Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei.- Ending US foreign aid -Initial results were dramatic.Within weeks of Trump taking office, Musk’s DOGE crew effectively shut down USAID, the main US foreign aid organization. Staff at headquarters in Washington were told to go home, life-saving programs around the world were frozen, and some government employees were stranded abroad.Other early targets included any government projects based on DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion — anathema to the Trump government.Musk’s DOGE has also tried to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog agency meant to guard ordinary Americans against bank malpractice, but seen in Trump world as a meddling leftist entity.In that, as in the other attacks, DOGE’s modus operandi was the same: Musk’s team of outsiders entered the CFPB’s internal computer systems, taking over the financial controls and social media accounts, then locked out staff.”CFPB RIP,” Musk posted on X.- Trouble in Musk’s world -Signs are emerging after three months that Musk’s political rocket ship, at least, may finally be losing altitude.Liberals, who once saw Musk as a cult hero for overseeing the ground-breaking electric cars, now slap on bumper stickers awkwardly declaring they bought their Tesla “before Elon went crazy.”Others have taken darker routes — vandalizing or setting fire to Teslas.And the company’s stock price continues to tank.Then there’s the matter of DOGE’s effectiveness.Setting aside the often traumatic damage inflicted on longstanding government bodies, there’s increasing doubt over the actual savings.This month, Musk announced a much smaller $150 billion target — and even that is questionable, because the DOGE website, which tracks savings, is reportedly error-strewn.Where does Musk go next?Under the law, a “special” employee can only serve the government for 130 days. So in theory Musk will have to leave this summer anyway.”He’s going to be going back” to his businesses, Trump said. “He wants to.”

Lorelei Crean, 17, is busy visiting colleges, finishing schoolwork, and trying to enjoy Spring Break like any other American teenager.But President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the rights of the LGBTQ community in his first 100 days has forced Crean, who is trans, to take to the streets and become a full-time activist.”It’s been a lot. I feel like I’m going to something every week,” Crean said, reeling off a list of rallies and events staged in opposition to Trump. “I’ve been propelled into action.”In little more than three months, Trump has upended modest reforms on trans rights and protections for the small community in the workplace, academia and federal institutions.One of Trump’s first moves was to halt the issuing of documents with a gender-neutral “X” in place of a marker for male or female.”There are only two genders — male and female,” Trump said in January.In practice that has meant some transgender individuals receiving birth certificates, passports and other official documents with gender markers they see as wrong.”I, along with other people, rushed to change our legal documents,” said Crean in a park near their home of 16 years in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.”Recently my new birth certificate came in the mail along with an ‘X’ gender passport, so now all of my legal documents have an X.”My existence is sort of (in) contradiction to Trump’s statement.”Nearly every week has seen Trump pass executive orders or make comments targeting communities like undocumented migrants and pro-Palestinian student demonstrators.Trump has specifically tried to ban transgender people from serving in the military, erase references to trans people in official travel advice, and punish states that allow trans competitors in sport.- ‘Weighing on all of us’ -“Everybody has the sense of hating what they see on the news. You get a new notification, ‘breaking news, Trump did something crazy or illegal’,” Crean said speaking in front of the George Washington Bridge linking New York and New Jersey.”It’s something that’s weighing on all of us — not just me as a trans kid, but all of my friends, people of color, other queer people. It’s an everyday attack on us,” they said as couples sunbathed and music played on Bluetooth speakers nearby.Fitting in studies and visiting colleges alongside a packed protest calendar has been a balancing act for Crean.”Sometimes it’s my parents saying ‘No, you have to go do your homework!'”I have to be in school, I have to be a student, I have to be a kid. But then I also have to bear the burden of living life as a trans kid in today’s America.”Crean’s father Nathan Newman, 57, said “it’s been good that they’ve been able to channel it, not into just feeling hopeless — but seeing that they can take action.”Deciding to which colleges to visit and apply has taken on an edge under Trump and the anti-trans climate he has fostered.”There’s so many colleges I’m looking at (in a) state that will not allow me to have health care, and if I go off campus, I will not be able to use the bathroom that corresponds with my gender identity.”The current laws against trans people are a factor in my college decisions, because, depending on the state, I won’t have rights.”Trans people face a web of laws and local regulations on everything from accessing gender-affirming care to the use of bathrooms, depending on what state they are in.Even in deeply Democratic New York, at least one hospital network paused access to treatment for trans youth after Trump issued a decree banning such care for under-19s which Crean described as “caving to Trump.””There’s (been) policies like this happening for years, but we honestly thought we were safe in a blue state,” said Crean referring to the Democrats’ signature color.”So seeing that was sort of one of the first signs that this Trump administration was going to be different than everything before.”Crean is unbowed, vowing to keep up protest action — with an eye on Trump’s 100th day in office.”People are getting out in the streets who usually wouldn’t,” they said.”There’s probably gonna be something on April 30 that I’m gonna go to, but right now, we’re just focusing on the current issue of the week.”

Elon Musk will significantly scale back his Trump administration work in May to focus on Tesla, the billionaire announced Tuesday as the electric vehicle maker reported a 71 percent drop in first-quarter profits.”Probably in the next month, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said at the outset of an earnings conference call, referring to his work for the “Department of Government Efficiency.”The comments came as Tesla reported profits of $409 million following a drop in auto sales that analysts said reflected brand damage due to Musk’s work for President Donald Trump in slashing the US federal workforce.Revenues fell nine percent to $19.3 billion.The company retreated from its 2025 guidance, citing unpredictability over trade policy and demand.”Uncertainty in the automotive and energy markets continues to increase as rapidly evolving trade policy adversely impacts the global supply chain and cost structure of Tesla and our peers,” the company said.”This dynamic, along with changing political sentiment, could have a meaningful impact on demand for our products in the near-term.”On the positive side, Tesla said it was on track to launch new vehicles “including more affordable models” in the first half of 2025.Tesla also confirmed in a press release that a planned launch of its Robotaxi for autonomous driving in Texas remained “on track” by June.Musk reiterated his bullish outlook on the long-term prospects for Tesla, highlighting its leadership in key growth areas: robotics, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence.- DOGE work ‘mostly done’ -Musk, the world’s richest person, donated more than $270 million to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.Analysts have warned of significant brand damage to Tesla from Musk’s leadership role in DOGE, which has granted itself access to government databases with sensitive personal information and implemented thousands of job cuts.The shakeup to US government operations has led to questions about programs like the Social Security retirement benefit and the continuation of programs like hurricane forecasting and humanitarian aid.Since Trump returned to the White House, Tesla has been targeted for consumer boycotts and vandalism while sales have dived across many markets and prices of used Teslas have plunged in a sign of the brand’s unpopularity.On the call, Tesla Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja described the reaction as “unwarranted hostility to our brand.”In his opening comments, Musk defended his work for DOGE, dismissing critics as “paid” beneficiaries of the “waste and fraud” he alleges. But Musk said the work for DOGE was “mostly done,” adding he would not exit government work entirely.”I think I’ll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters, or as long as the president would like me to do so, and as long as it is useful,” Musk said. “But starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla.”Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a longtime backer of Tesla who called on Musk to wind down his DOGE work, praised the CEO’s announcement.”Musk just made a huge step forward on call,” Ives said on X. “DOGE work basically ending (1-2 days a week)… now his focus back on Tesla. (Wall) Street needed to hear this.”Besides its image, Tesla pointed to tariffs as another headwind for the company, while noting the EV maker is better situated than rivals that rely extensively on imported vehicles in the United States.The Trump administration has enacted 25 percent tariffs on imported autos.”I will weigh in with my advice with president, which he will listen to… but then it’s up to him, of course, to make his decision,” Musk said of Trump.”I’ve been on the record many times as saying that I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea for prosperity.”Shares of Tesla rose 4.7 percent in after-hours trading.

President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday announced plans to remove synthetic dyes from the US food supply, marking a rare point of bipartisan convergence in an otherwise sharply divided political climate.Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. has vowed to overhaul America’s food system under the banner of his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda, and the push would phase out the eight approved artificial food dyes by the end of 2026.It builds upon a prohibition on Red Dye 3 by the government of former president Joe Biden but accelerates the timeline and also calls on the National Institutes of Health to carry out comprehensive research on how additives impact children’s development.”For the last 50 years, American children have increasingly been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals,” Food and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary said at a news conference, surrounded by young families and MAHA supporters. He cited studies linking synthetic dyes to conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), diabetes, cancer, genomic disruption, gastrointestinal issues and more.Kennedy, for his part, called the issue of dyes and additives more generally an “existential” threat. “When my uncle was president in the 1960s, we had the healthiest people in the world — and one of the basic assumptions of our country was that because we were robust people… that was responsible for our country being the land of the brave and the home of the free,” he said.Of the eight synthetic dyes derived from petroleum, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Red 40 make up the lion’s share of those in use, Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, told AFP.They are found in a range of products, from beverages and candies to cereals, sauces and dairy products. Under the new plan, the FDA would revoke authorization for two of the eight dyes, while relying on the food industry to voluntarily eliminate the other six, but Kennedy said they have been receptive in talks.”None of them convey anything of any nutritional significance, and what they’re really there for is to mislead — to make food appear somehow redder, somehow bluer, somehow fruitier or more attractive than it is,” said Lurie.”And the purpose of all that is to drive up sales, it’s not anything that benefits the American public.”- Bipartisan momentum -Momentum has been building at the state level. In March, Republican-leaning West Virginia enacted a broad ban on synthetic dyes, following California’s 2024 decision to restrict them in public schools.While Red Dye 3 was previously targeted for phaseout in foods and drugs by 2027 and 2028 respectively due to cancer concerns, the remaining dyes have been linked to behavioral issues such as attention deficit disorder in children.In Europe, these dyes are not banned outright — but the requirement to carry warning labels has led many companies to switch to natural alternatives.Kennedy’s stance puts him in rare alignment with mainstream scientific consensus — a shift from his controversial record of promoting vaccine misinformation, downplaying the country’s worst measles outbreak in years, and suggesting bird flu should be allowed to spread naturally among poultry.Still, opposition from the food industry may yet surface. Manufacturers have long resisted tighter regulations, though Kennedy insisted they are ready to adapt.”They want clear guidelines, they want to know what they can and can’t do, and we’re going to give them that,” he said.Lurie remained skeptical.”All I know is that industry wasn’t up there on the podium,” he said. “If they were so clearly on board, you have to ask yourself why they weren’t there.”

A judge on Tuesday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore funding to Voice of America and other US-funded media, saying its abrupt shutdown of the outlets broke the law.The federal judge in Washington agreed to a request led by the outlets’ employees for a preliminary injunction, a temporary order as a court examines the legal challenge in greater depth.Trump, who has long jostled with the press and questioned the editorial rules that prohibit interference in government-funded media, issued an executive order on March 14 to eliminate the outlets. The following day, Kari Lake, his firebrand supporter turned advisor, began issuing notices to terminate all funding, which was appropriated by Congress.Lake and other Trump officials are “likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws,” wrote Royce Lamberth, a judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia.The US Agency for Global Media, which supervises taxpayer-funded media, is allowed by law to redirect funds among its various outlets by five percent or less, he wrote.”Certainly, no law gives the agency the power to cut funding to the drastic degree that is alleged,” he wrote.Lamberth wrote that Voice of America’s congressionally established charter states that the outlet will “‘serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news (that is) accurate, objective, and comprehensive’ but the defendants have silenced VOA.”The judge called on the Trump administration to return all employees and contractors to their jobs and to provide monthly status reports on compliance.The order affects employees of Voice of America as well as Radio Free Asia — created to report on China, North Korea and other countries without free media — and Arabic-language network Alhurra.Radio Free Asia, which has been operating at limited capacity for the past month, welcomed the ruling.”While we want to resume our operations as they were before, for that to happen we need to receive timely disbursement of our funding on a consistent basis,” RFA President and CEO Bay Fang said in a statement.Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders USA, said the media rights group was “very pleased” with the decision on VOA and other outlets.”Every day they’re off the air is a gift to authoritarian regimes that forbid the free press, like China and Iran,” he said.It remains to be seen if the order is enough to put the outlets back on air. The Trump administration, in a break with precedent, has shown defiance toward court orders, notably a Supreme Court demand that it facilitate the return of a Maryland resident mistakenly deported to a crowded high-security prison in his native El Salvador.The judge rejected a request for similar action on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty as the Trump administration already rescinded its decision to withdraw funding following a separate court decision, although the network says it has still not received money for April.

A top US science official on Tuesday backed away from a bold promise made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reveal the cause of autism by September.Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, told reporters the timeline referred not to a discovery, but to the launch of a new research initiative — with no firm deadline for results.”We’re hoping that by September, we’ll have the call for proposals out, and we’ll have a competition among scientists across the country using a normal NIH process for selecting the proposals that win and get an award,” he said. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has long promoted a debunked theory linking childhood vaccines to autism, and recently appointed an anti-vaccine activist who holds the same views to be a data analyst — a move critics say guarantees bias.Bhattacharya, however, said the study itself would conform to rigorous standards and would be evaluated through the normal NIH peer review process.He said the timeline for results was “hard to predict” but that his team was “cutting red tape” to remove any bureaucratic obstacles. “I would like to have a timeline within a year, where they start to put out the preliminary results or the results — we’ll see,” Bhattacharya said. Bhattacharya also confirmed a report by CBS News that the NIH was gathering private medical records from a number of federal and commercial databases to give the study statistical power, but insisted all the data would be anonymized. During his own Senate confirmation hearings, Bhattacharya, a physician-scientist and health economist known for opposing lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, stated he does not “generally believe” there’s a link between vaccines and autism.The estimated prevalence of autism in children aged eight rose to one in 31 in 2022, according to a study published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared to one child in 150 in 2000 — a trend the authors attributed to improved diagnosis methods.Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that affects behavior, communication, learning, and social interaction. There is no single known cause, but a combination of genetic and environmental factors is likely involved, according to the World Health Organization.Over the past two decades, milder forms and related conditions have increasingly been grouped under the broader category of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had no plans to fire the Federal Reserve chief, in apparently conciliatory remarks after berating him and triggering market turmoil.Wall Street investors dumped US assets on Monday, with all three main indexes down after Trump took a series of swipes at Jerome Powell, head of the US central bank.The president had criticized Powell for warning that the White House’s sweeping tariffs policy would likely reignite inflation.”I have no intention of firing him,” Trump said Tuesday.”I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates — it’s a perfect time to lower interest rates.”If he doesn’t, is it the end? No.”Trump’s recent outbursts against Powell had fanned concern that he would oust him, and White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett said last week the president was looking at whether he could do so.Trump has repeatedly said he wants rate cuts now to help stimulate economic growth as he rolls out his tariff plans, and had threatened to fire Powell if he does not comply.”If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me,” Trump said Thursday.- Inflation fears -Powell has said he has no plans to step down early, adding that he considers the bank’s independence over monetary policy to be a “matter of law.”Many economists agree that the administration’s tariff plans — which include a 10 percent “baseline” rate on imports from most countries — will put upward pressure on prices and cool economic growth.Asked about the possibility that the US executive branch tries to fire Powell before the end of his term, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde told CNBC on Tuesday she hoped this was “not on the table.The president does not have direct authority to fire Federal Reserve governors, but Trump could initiate a lengthy process to attempt to unseat Powell by proving there was cause to do so.Powell had earlier warned that Trump’s sweeping tariffs could put the Fed in an unenviable position of having to choose between tackling inflation and unemployment.Closing before Trump’s remarks, Wall Street stocks rebounded Tuesday after US officials were upbeat about trade talks with China.All three major US indexes rose following White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments that Trump was “setting the stage for a deal with China.”Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare put part of the rebound down to sentiment that Trump would not fire Powell, and instead was “simply setting him up now to take the blame in the event of an economic downturn.”