# Germany builds digital backup for US climate data

> Germany creates secure digital archive to protect US climate research from political interference
- Title: Germany builds digital backup for US climate data | Shortify
- Summary: Germany creates secure digital archive to protect US climate research from political interference US climate data now backed up in Germany to prevent Trump…
- Keywords: germany, us climate data, dkrz, trump administration, climate research, data backup, ipcc, socioeconomic data and applications cent, harvard dataverse, russia ukraine war, data resilience, builds
- Source: Mother Jones — https://motherjones.com/politics/2026/09/german-climate-computing-senter-backup-storate-us-climate-data-trump-administration-tampering-digital-repository
- Author: Christian Schwägerl
- Published: 2026-09-27T08:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: germany, us climate data, dkrz, trump administration, climate research, data backup, ipcc, socioeconomic data and applications cent, harvard dataverse, russia ukraine war, data resilience
## New climate data center
German Climate Computing Center adds 5 petabytes of storage to its 254 petabytes of existing climate data.
## US climate data at risk
Trump administration has slashed climate funding, buried reports, and removed references to human-caused warming from government websites.
## Why backup?
German scientists fear US data could be blocked or manipulated by Trump administration actions.
## Data loss threat
In early 2025, Elon Musk's DOGE removed 300 NASA datasets built over decades.
## Global data risks
Cyberattacks and wars threaten scientific data worldwide, including Ukraine's research infrastructure.
## Data resilience project
American Geophysical Union launched global Data Resilience Project to protect climate data from political interference.
## Ukraine data transfer
German-Polish-Ukrainian team digitized 1808-1880 meteorological records and moved them to University of Giessen.
## Data sharing goal
Scientists aim to connect global climate data via digital pipelines for automatic backup during threats.
## German political risk
Germany's far-right AfD party recently won a state election that denies climate science.
## Data backup cost
Transferring petabytes of data via physical transport costs more than internet transfers but avoids political interference.
## US data vulnerability
US government agencies have been targeted by political interference and cyberattacks on climate data.
## Data preservation
Scientists store data in multiple locations to prevent loss from natural disasters or political actions.
## Data sharing
German researchers share US climate data with global scientific community to ensure accessibility.
## Future data plan
Germany aims to create a global digital pipeline for automatic data backup during threats.
## Key takeaway

US climate data now backed up in Germany to prevent Trump administration from deleting or manipulating it