Chaos unleashed at key American science agency

Earlier this week, scientists and staff at the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

, or

NOAA

were told in an email to log and clear all international contacts and communication, according to internal communications seen by Bloomberg News.
Confusion set in soon, even as some meetings with overseas counterparts were put on hold pending review and approval.

Confusion reigned over how workers might troubleshoot in the case of technical glitches.
NOAA is the scientific agency best known for providing daily

weather forecasts

through its National Weather Service. By Friday, that early morning email indicated the orders concerning global interactions had been relaxed for some employees, at least for the next several weeks.NOAA didn't provide a comment Friday.