The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Andre1661 on 2025-02-21 08:19:06.
I have concerns about a huge online information source that, even just a few months ago, I would have thought was a secure and publicly available database. I’m referring to the National Weather Service.
No matter which weather forecasting app you use on your phone or desktop they are all based on information that comes largely from a single source: the National Weather Service. For over a hundred years they have been collecting hourly weather data from thousands of weather stations, radiosonde balloons, aircraft, etc. It is a priceless trove of data and one which cannot be replicated for any money.
Recently I heard rumblings that corporations were hoping a Republican government would privatize that government agency, meaning one corporation would control all weather data. So, if your local TV station or phone app wanted to provide you with a forecast for the coming week it would have to shell out big money for the data. Every single week.
Given what has happened since the Musk-Trump Shredder of Lunacy has been let loose inside the federal government I am worried that, once they have hit the high value targets (Accounting Office, the IRS, the OMB, etc,) they will turn their attention to the science agencies.
I would suggest that someone who has good database and data hoarding skills take a look at the weather service and NOAA websites and seriously consider starting to archive as much data as they can. Or provide us concerned citizens with some guidance about how we can help preserve it.
As I mentioned before, this is a priceless database and once it is sealed into a corporation’s server farm, will it ever be given back to the people who paid for it: the public?