Trump administration moves to dismantle leading climate and weather research center
The Trump administration is set to dismantle one of the world’s leading climate and weather research institutions, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, in a move that experts say will undermine U.S. scientific competitiveness and leave millions vulnerable to worsening climate hazards.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, made the surprise announcement in an article published Tuesday evening on X.
“This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” Vought wrote. “A full review is underway and all vital activities such as weather research will be transferred to another entity or location.”
The news caused shock waves in the scientific community. The center’s work is used by governments, universities, emergency planners and the private sector for forecasting and disaster response planning. Its sophisticated model of the Community Earth System underpins international climate assessments and much of U.S. policy. The federally funded research center employs approximately 830 people, making it one of the largest consortia of scientists studying weather, climate and Earth systems using advanced models and supercomputers in the world.
“The Trump administration has zeroed in on one of America’s premier weather and climate research and modeling centers, threatening to undo decades of public investment,” said Carlos Martinez, a former researcher at the center who is now a senior climatologist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Deliberately dismantling an institution so critical to weather forecasting and predicting climate change would not only undermine scientific research, it would leave people across the country less prepared for the dangers of a warming world. »
A senior White House official confirmed the plan to the Times, saying the National Science Foundation, which funds the center, would dismantle the facility to “eliminate research activity on the new green scam.” As the largest federal climate change research program, the center serves as “a premier research bastion for left-wing climate madness,” the official said.
National Science Foundation officials said Wednesday that the agency is “reviewing the structure of research and observation capabilities” at the center and exploring options for transferring management of its Wyoming supercomputing center to “an appropriate operator.” The agency also plans to divest two aircraft managed by the center and “re-scope” modeling and forecasting research and operations.
“NSF remains committed to providing world-class infrastructure for weather modeling, space weather research and forecasting, and other critical functions,” the agency said. “To do this, NSF will engage with partner agencies, the research community, and other interested parties to solicit feedback to redefine the functions of the work currently performed by NCAR.”
Although the White House official called the center’s work “climate madness,” climate change is happening more quickly than many scientists predicted. The basic science of climate change is well established over decades of research.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, said it’s hard to overstate the center’s importance. “There is no other institution like NCAR – not just in this country but anywhere else in the world,” Swain said during a press briefing Wednesday morning. He fears that no other global institution can absorb all of his expertise.
Swain also called the administration’s decision “purely politically partisan” in a way that does not align with the public interest. The center’s predictions “aren’t just helpful or practical — they save lives and save the economy,” he said, adding that closing the facility would be “an incredible and truly truly shocking self-inflicted wound to American competitiveness.”
Indeed, losing the facility would leave millions of people vulnerable to worsening climate hazards such as wildfires, hurricanes, tropical cyclones and winter storms, Swain and other experts said. Its Wyoming Supercomputing Center provides massive computing resources to national and international scientists to run complex weather and climate models and simulations.
In California, many universities and state agencies use the center’s data and modeling to monitor air pollution, manage water, emergency planning and assess wildfire risks, among other uses.
The center’s data and tools are also used directly and indirectly by the private sector.
For example, the center provides large amounts of atmospheric data, via the Climate Data Guide And Community Earth System Model Large Set Numerical Simulationwhich AI researchers, insurance companies, and even data scientists can access and use to train models, assess risks, and make predictions.
The aviation, energy and private weather forecasting sectors all rely on data and tools developed by the center, including a technology product known as Bolt alertwhich is used to predict lightning strikes and Maintenance decision support systemwhich alerts snow plow and truck fleets about road conditions.
The $700 billion reinsurance industry also relies on the center’s climate data, tools and models to create financial instruments, such as catastrophe bonds, directly linked to weather or natural disaster risks. These vehicles rely on complete and accurate past data, as well as climate models to predict potential risks.
For example, reinsurance giant SwissRe credits the center’s work for developing its proprietary forecasting tool known as CatNet. In a press release about its product, the company said its disaster experts have partnered with the center to create globally validated hail forecasts.
Bill Wadell, a spokesman for AccuWeather, said there was “no indication” that the climate center’s dismantling announcement would affect his business “at this time.” However, he said the American public and economy “are best served when all sectors of the American weather enterprise” — public and private — work together toward “the common goal of better informing the public and protecting lives and property.”
The decision to close the facility follows other efforts by the Trump administration to shut down scientific research and change public opinion on climate change. This includes dismissal of hundreds of employees to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and significantly reducing funding for its scientific research arm. Earlier this year, the Trump administration also fired hundreds of scientists work to prepare for the congressionally mandated national climate assessment and deleted website which housed previous assessments.
The announcement came as a surprise to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who said in a statement shortly after Vought’s announcement that the state had “yet received any information” about the plan.
“If this is true, public safety is at risk and science is under attack,” Polis said. “Climate change is real, but NCAR’s work goes far beyond climate science. NCAR provides data on severe weather events like fires and floods that help our nation save lives and property, and avoid devastation for families. If these budget cuts move forward, we will lose our competitive edge against foreign powers and adversaries in the pursuit of scientific discovery.”
When asked why the administration was closing the facility, White House officials pointed to the center’s so-called “woke” programs that they said were “wasting taxpayer dollars” and “diverting from sound or useful science,” such as the Rising Voices center aimed at connecting indigenous knowledge and Earth science, and an art series that explored the human relationship with water.
They also cited the center’s wind turbine research that sought to better understand the impact of weather on offshore wind production. Trump has expressed opposition to offshore wind and other forms of renewable energy.
