The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has deleted key information on climate change from its website, including facts about human causes. At least 80 pages vanished in early December, shifting focus to natural processes. Climate experts call the changes deliberate misinformation.
In early December 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency removed at least 80 pages of climate change information from its website, marking one of the most extensive purges since President Donald Trump assumed office in January. Previously, the agency's page on climate causes clearly stated that human activities release planet-heating carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Now, it emphasizes natural factors such as variations in Earth's orbit and solar activity, omitting human influences entirely.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, described the revision as 'simply misinformation' and 'clearly deliberate,' noting that the page accurately reflected scientific consensus just a week prior. Gretchen Gehrke, who tracks federal websites for the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, highlighted that prior alterations under the administration involved subtle language changes, like replacing 'climate change' with 'extreme weather.' This overhaul, however, rejects core scientific principles more radically.
Among the deleted resources is a detailed explanation of warming signals, including rising temperatures, melting ice sheets, and impacts on wildlife and human health, supported by over 100 charts and maps. Another removed section quantified physical and economic risks, which Gehrke said isolates climate issues from everyday concerns. These materials, translated from complex scientific reports, served teachers, businesses, local governments, and the public.
The EPA defended the updates as upholding 'gold-standard science' and prioritizing human health and environmental protection over 'left-wing political agendas,' according to a spokesperson. The changes align with an impending reversal of the agency's endangerment finding, which underpins carbon emission regulations. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has called this the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.
Swain warned that such revisions could foster a false sense of debate on climate severity, despite evidence showing worsening impacts. Gehrke expressed concern over eroding trust in government sites, once reliable sources, amid broader shifts like altered CDC content on vaccines.
