National Park tweets climate facts amid Trump social media crackdown

The Twitter feed for Badlands National Park sent out three messages on Tuesday promoting climate science amid a new Trump administration crackdown on agencies communicating on social media. 

“The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). As of December 2016, 404.93 ppm,” the park tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. 

“Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate. … Flipside of the atmosphere; ocean acidity has increased 30% since the Industrial  Revolution. ‘Ocean Acidification” #climate #carboncycle’”

“The pre-industrial concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was 280 parts per million (ppm). As of December 2016, 404.93 ppm.”

— Badlands Nat’l Park (@BadlandsNPS) January 24, 2017

Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate

— Badlands Nat’l Park (@BadlandsNPS) January 24, 2017

Flipside of the atmosphere; ocean acidity has increased 30% since the Industrial Revolution. “Ocean Acidification” #climate #carboncycle

— Badlands Nat’l Park (@BadlandsNPS) January 24, 2017

{mosads}The tweets are basic scientific facts and not noteworthy in and of themselves, and the park tweeted climate facts about a dozen times last year. But they come against a backdrop of Trump administration directives blocking climate pronouncements from agencies within the federal government. 

Trump does not believe the science behind manmade climate change, and he has appointed transition officials who agree with his viewpoint. 

Trump’s team has banned the Environmental Protection Agency from sending social media updates or communicating with reporters, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. 

Similarly, the Department of Agriculture has said its employees are no longer allowed to tweet or distribute scientific research, agency officials told Buzzfeed.

Last week, the whole Interior Department was briefly banned from social media after its Twitter account noted a decline in crowd size at Trump’s inauguration ceremony. 

An agency spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Badlands Park’s tweet.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer declined to comment on the AP report during Tuesday’s briefing. He said he wasn’t familiar with the specific bans, but that it was natural for a new administration to reconsider agency operations. 

“I don’t think it’s anything surprise that when there’s an administration turnover, that we’re going to review the policy,” Spicer said.