[saulrh]

I'll point out some higher order impacts of this, since the article doesn't: Losing these forecasts will be catastrophic for American farmers. Crops literally live and die on weather forecasts; forecasts tell farmers what to plant, when to plant it, how to plant it, how to water it, and when to harvest it. Without these forecasts we will see negative effects on the entire American agricultural industry and all of the people it feeds, US citizens or not. I'm not a farmer myself, so I can't tell you exactly how severe the impact will be, but there will be an impact, whether it's an immediate crop failure and outright famine this year or "only" shockwaves bouncing through our entire economy as farmers plant the wrong crops and go out of business over the next few years. This is one of the scenarios I've been most worried about when it comes to the stability of human civilization, up there alongside the looming specter of nuclear war and the randomisation of US foreign policy.

[genocidicbunny]

I hate that my cynicism is at the level where I think one of the things they will do if they end up privatizing it, is use price discrimination to hide 'sticking it to those liberal states'.

For example, a massive part of California's economy is in farming, and while most farmers are more conservative leaning, I am sure a vindictive admin will have no qualms with sacrificing them to stick it to California. Similarly with Oregon and Washington. And when prices of food go up commensurately in those states, they will spin it as "look at how shitty those places are, look at how much they charge you for food."

Or they will give discounts to large farmers while lowering data quality and increasing prices for the small ones, impoverishing or causing them to fail, such that they can be cheaply bought out, thus further consolidating the ag sector into a small handful of massive companies.

Another secondary effect that is worrying to me is in regards to how much aviation relies on weather data. Commercial aviation probably won't suffer much immediately -- they'll pay for the good data and pass on the costs to their passengers. With how much prices for airline flights already fluctuate, the difference will probably get lost in the noise so there won't be much public outrage. But GA pilots, especially ones operating from smaller airports might be affected pretty significantly. Flying a plane isn't exactly a cheap endeavor as is, and having to pay much more for weather data to fly safely might turn even more people off from flying. Down the line, that means less pilots that can fly commercial, which leads to yet another pilot shortage. It will also probably mean more GA accidents due to insufficient or shoddy weather data.

[spiderxxxx]

Not just farmers, pilots, and anything that flies long distances will be hugely affected.

Pilots rely not just on forecasts, but also warnings like turbulence, icing, thunderstorms, low visibility, etc. Without precision, and relying on other sources will cause a higher risk of encountering unexpected weather. It will increase costs, as they'll have to subscribe to alternative weather services, emergency responses will be affected as well. Need a helicopter to medevac someone? Well, better hope they updated their weather subscription, and that it covers the area you need to be evcuated from and to. It'll also increase delays due to the adverse weather events encountered unexpectedly.

[VectorLock]

Best case scenario a couple trillion more are printed to bail out the farmers.

[mentalgear]

you can't print out food though (never mind "food printing")

[_DeadFred_]

After a tree fell on their camp during a wind storm my very red friends depend on this and on their weather alert radios when they go out hunting.

[watwut]

Farmers will pay to some less precise but sufficient private weather service. It will make them poorer and consequently more resentful, so they will vote for conservatives again and more to punish perceived left.

[mentalgear]

this - as it has always been with so many sectors previously in the US. People getting screwed by corporations lobbying republicans, and conservative media propaganda pins the outrage and consequences on the "woke" left.

[happa]

Farmers won't stop getting forecasts. They simply get their forecasts from someone other than NOAA.

[squarefoot]

At what price? Privatization always turn into either monopoly or cartels, that is, price inflation. Those believing that privatization will help them also to pay lower taxes either don't know how it works or are part of the plan.