NEW ORLEANS — A proposal by the Trump administration to dismantle a leading atmospheric science center would also have implications for space science.
The White House announced Dec. 16 it would direct the National Science Foundation to break up the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. The plans were first reported by USA Today.
“This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in a social media post. “A comprehensive review is underway, and any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.”
Vought did not elaborate on those concerns. The USA Today report, citing an unnamed official, attributed the decision to what the official described as the “woke direction” of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the organization that manages NCAR for the NSF. Examples cited included research into wind turbines and an art series about “our relationship with water.”
While NCAR is best known for its work in weather and climate science, the center also conducts research on space weather. Scientists at NCAR study the sun and the effects of solar activity on Earth’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere.
That work includes involvement in NASA heliophysics missions. Earlier in December, NASA announced it selected the Chromospheric Magnetism Explorer, or CMEx, for further study as part of its heliophysics Small Explorer program. CMEx, which would study a region of the sun’s atmosphere called the chromosphere using an ultraviolet spectrometer, is led by NCAR scientist Holly Gilbert.
NASA also selected another NCAR-led mission, the Solar Transition Region Ultraviolet Explorer, or STRUVE, in December as part of its Heliophysics Flight Opportunities for Research and Technology program. STRUVE, a cubesat planned for launch in 2029, would also study the chromosphere to better understand its links to space weather.
In addition, NCAR is a partner on COSMIC-2, a joint U.S.-Taiwan mission. The six COSMIC-2 spacecraft, launched in 2019, collect radio occultation data using signals from navigation satellites to probe Earth’s atmosphere, providing data for weather forecasting.
“Research conducted at NCAR informs our understanding of space weather hazards caused by solar storms and the atmospheric properties of other planets in and beyond our solar system,” Dara Norman, president of the American Astronomical Society, said in a Dec. 19 statement expressing concern about plans to dismantle NCAR.
UCAR and congressional reactions
The White House announcement came during the Annual Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, the largest conference of Earth and space scientists. News of the proposal prompted an impromptu town hall at the conference as well as a press briefing.
Antonio Busalacchi, president of UCAR, said at the Dec. 18 briefing that the proposal to dismantle NCAR took him by surprise. He said he learned of the plan while hosting an awards reception, after checking his phone and seeing the report.
The only official notice UCAR received, he said, was advance word from NSF that it would issue a “Dear Colleague” letter soliciting input on the future of NCAR, which he described as “very vague.”
“They are less in the dark than we are, but this hit them cold as well,” he said of NSF. “They’re trying to learn what is possible.”
Busalacchi pushed back on some of the claims cited in the USA Today report. He noted that NCAR’s work on wind energy forecasting with a Colorado utility saved customers $150 million over 15 years. The art exhibit mentioned in the report did not use federal funding, he said, and NCAR also complied within days with executive orders issued early in the new administration to halt activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Our job is to do basic and fundamental research,” he said in response to claims of “climate alarmism” by the White House. “We are physical scientists. We are not political scientists.”
“What we do is not — and I repeat, is not — policy prescriptive,” he added.
Breaking up NCAR would be costly, Busalacchi said. “Every government talks about efficiency, as they should, but to separate these activities is going to cost at least an order of magnitude more,” he said, citing the need to duplicate administrative and related functions. NCAR receives about $127 million in base funding from NSF and an additional $55 million in project-specific funding from NSF, NASA, NOAA and other agencies.
Busalacchi said members of Colorado’s congressional delegation were drafting a letter opposing the proposal. That letter, released Dec. 22, was signed by more than 70 members of Congress and urged House and Senate appropriations leaders to maintain “sustained funding” for NCAR.
The letter cited the White House’s own fiscal year 2026 budget proposal for NSF, which described NCAR as “a world-class research center” in atmospheric and Earth system science. That budget, though, proposed a 40% cut to NCAR funding.
“Any attempt to dismantle this institution is dangerous, reckless and would ultimately put the United States at a very deep competitive disadvantage,” Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., said in a statement. Neguse led the letter with Rep. Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats from Colorado.
“Dismantling this institution doesn’t make sense, and I’m glad to work with my colleagues in both chambers to make sure NCAR has the funding it needs to keep operating,” Hurd said.
At the briefing, Busalacchi said he was not sure what would happen next regarding efforts to break up NCAR. “We do prediction of the weather, not prediction of politics.”