How the Government Shutdown Affects Science

The United States is currently in the midst of the longest partial government shutdown in history which has lasted four weeks and counting. A partial shutdown requires that only federal employees deemed “essential” report to their jobs. That leaves 800,000 federal workers out of work or working without pay—this includes tens of thousands of federal contractors.

Science-based agencies that work behind the scenes to keep our lives running smoothly (from national parks to airplanes to the food we eat) are intertwined with the federal government in the United States. With much scientific research being funded by government agencies, how does the shutdown affect the progress of science? And how much of our daily lives relies on ongoing, government-run science projects? Let's find out.

The Government Shutdown Affects Our Ability to Prepare for Weather

Some meteorologists at the National Weather Service are being forced to work without pay if they are deemed essential. Those of us living toward the middle latitudes of the United States and currently experiencing intense storms are, of course, grateful for their service. However, preparation efforts for future storms have been put on hold.

For example, scientists at the National Hurricane Center, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are usually hard at work in the hurricane off-season honing and improving forecast techniques so that newly upgraded models are ready before the hurricanes arrive. However, with only one of 200 people working through the shutdown, those upgrades are falling woefully behind.

Large chunks of the population may be left vulnerable to wildfires as well once the season starts because the Forest Service has been unable to purchase much needed new equipment or to continue with training for thousands of firefighters. Without enough workers, they are also unable to make preparations to prevent future wildfires from spreading.

The Government Shutdown Affects the Safety of Our Food and Water

Almost all of the facilities that produce the food we eat every day are monitored for safety and cleanliness by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which normally conducts around 160 inspections per month. However, with hundreds of workers lost to the shutdown, keeping up with these inspections is impossible, even for high-risk foods like fresh produce. Remember the lettuce recall due to an E. coli outbreak just last month?...

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