The Trump administration has told a major US government department to end predicting what the long-term effects of climate change will be on the country.

Director of the US Geological Survey (USGS) James Reilly – a White House-appointed former oil geologist – ordered that scientific assessments only use computer-generated models that track the possible impact of climate change until 2040, according to The New York Times.

Previously the USGS modelled effects until the end of the century, the second half of which is likely to see the most dramatic impacts of global warming.

The order is likely to impact the US government’s National Climate Assessment, an interagency report produced every four years which outlines the projected impact of climate change in every corner of US society.

In the most recent report, produced late last year and dismissed by Mr Trump, scientists used computer models to predict the US would face devastating economic and health impacts from global warming by the end of the century.

Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures In the protest that started a movement, Greta skips school to sit outside of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm in order to raise awareness of climate change on 28 August 2018 Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 25 January AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta stages a protest at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 25 January Reuters Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta speaks at the House of Commons in London on 23 April PA Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta addresses to the occupation at Marble Arch in London on 21 April AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta meets the pope on a visit to Rome Reuters Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta speaks at the senate in Rome on 18 April Reuters Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta addresses a debate of the EU Environment, Public Health and Food Safety committee at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 16 April AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta receives the Special Climate Protection Award at the German Film and Television awards in Berlin on 30 March AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta attends a children's climate protest in Berlin on 29 March AFP/Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta addresses a children's climate protest on 1 March in Hamburg Getty Greta Thunberg inspires climate activists everywhere: In pictures Greta attends a meeting for the Civil Society For rEUnaissance at the EU Charlemagne Building in Brussels on 21 February AFP/Getty

In the next report, due for release in 2021 or 2022, worst-case scenario predictions will not automatically be included, in what one climate scientist, Philip Duffy of the Woods Hole Research Center, said was a “blatant attempt” to politicise science.

The move is just the latest in a concerted attempt by the Trump White House to undermine climate science and challenge attempts to address runaway warming, which is posing an existential threat to much of life on Earth.

Earlier this year, leaked documents revealed Mr Trump’s administration was creating a panel to challenge climate threat assessments, headed by a climate change denier who once compared the “demonisation” of carbon dioxide to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.

William Happer, who also serves on Mr Trump’s national security council, is a beneficiary of Robert Mercer, a far-right billionaire who funds climate denialism.

Mr Trump has regularly mocked global warming, having repeatedly called for more of it during periods of cold weather.