On the side of the largest active volcano on Earth, the Maunaloa Observatory tracks the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that warms the planet and has been doing so since 1958.
However, Hawaiian offices that manage the world-famous sites could close in August, according to copies of internal federal documents viewed by The New York Times.
The Observatory was a pole star in global scientific research. The data collected there helped to create the keyring curve, the famous upward sweep graph documenting a rapid rise in carbon dioxide concentrations over decades.
“These data are our eyes on the planet,” said Ralph Keeling, a professor of climate science at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego and son of Charles Keeling, creator of Curve. “It's really important baseline data about how things will change in the future.”
The observatory's office is one of 30 buildings operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and is the leading institution for climate research in the country, listed in the spreadsheet for lease termination, which could begin early in May.
It is unclear what will happen with operations at the observatory if the office is closed. White House press director Karoline Leavitt declined to comment via email saying, “As a policy issue, we will not respond to reporters who have the pronouns of their BIOS.”
During the day, carbon dioxide levels rise and fall, with seasonal fluctuations within a year. However, the keyring curve shows that the number has increased by more than a million percent since 1958. In 2024, more carbon was released than ever before, and average annual reading was a record jump from the previous year.
That rise warmed the atmosphere and caused climate change, which led to more frequent and intense extreme weather events like hot waves, floods and wildfires.
The government's Department of Efficiency, a cost-cutting effort led by billionaire Elon Musk, has so far proposed ending 793 leases across the federal government. The Doge web page lists at least 19 NOAA leases. According to Doge, the federal government was able to save about $500 million by ending them. That's less than 0.1% of the US government's $1.3 trillion spent on defense in 2025.
Additionally, it listed the 443 federal buildings that it had planned to manage and sell federal properties, and the General Services Bureau that defeated them designated them as “not the core of government operations.” If implemented, that list, including at least five childcare facilities, could save the government “over $430 million per year,” according to a March 4 news release.
At least 13 are NOAA buildings, according to documents written by the New York Times, created by former NOAA employees.
One of the buildings on that list is the NOAA Satellite Control Room outside of Washington, DC, from which the federal government oversees a fleet of at least 15 weather satellites. The other is the National Environmental Information Center in Asheville, North Carolina, which manages digital and physical archives of climate data for over a century.
A GSA spokesperson told The Times by emailing the Times that the agency had “received overwhelming interest” since publishing the list, and that the list would be “reissued in the near future.” Such an initiative supported the Trump administration's executive order that would allow Kuji to cut costs, according to a statement.
However, according to Janet Koit, a former assistant manager at NOAA Fisheries, the first GSA list was added to the unrest caused by federal reforms of personnel and funding allocations.
Coit said NOAA Fisheries operates in many leased facilities and if the lease is suddenly fired, staff members don't know if there is an office or access to essential equipment.
“Turning them out of their offices will only reduce their effectiveness and their ability to do their job.”
Of the 30 lease terminations proposed by NOAA, nine are NOAA Fisheries law enforcement agencies. These offices monitor more than 4 million square miles of oceans along the US and territorial coastline. These officers ensure that seafood is harvested sustainably and in compliance with the law.
In addition to potential lease terminations and facility sales, reduced staffing impacted accessibility in climate science.
This week, the National Center for Environmental Information announced that global climate data, including monthly US media briefings and monthly temperature and precipitation reports, will be over in April.
Meteorologist and NOAA spokesman John Bateman said in an email Thursday that the change took place after the centre lost “a significant number of staff” through recruitment and retirement.
In February, 1,300 workers were fired from NOAA, with another 1,000 layoffs planned. Together, these first cuts could reduce agency staff by nearly 20%.
