The Trump administration is moving to dismantle one of the world\u2019s leading climate and weather research institutions, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., in a decision experts say will undermine U.S. scientific competitiveness and leave millions vulnerable to worsening climate hazards.<\/p>\n
Russell Vought, director of the White House\u2019s Office of Management and Budget, made the surprise announcement in a Tuesday evening post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,\u201d Vought wrote. \u201cA comprehensive review is underway & any vital activities such as weather research will be moved to another entity or location.\u201d<\/p>\n The news sent shock waves through the scientific community. The center\u2019s work is used by governments, universities, emergency planners and the private sector for forecasts and disaster response planning. Its sophisticated Community Earth System Model<\/a> underpins international climate assessments and much of U.S. policy. The federally funded research center employs about 830 staff, making it one of the largest consortia of scientists who study weather, climate and Earth systems using advanced models and supercomputers in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration has put a bull\u2019s-eye on one of the United States\u2019 premier weather and climate research and modeling centers, threatening to destroy decades of public investment,\u201d said Carlos Martinez, a former researcher at the center, now a senior climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. \u201cDeliberately dismantling an institution so central to weather forecasting and climate change prediction would not only undermine scientific research, it would leave people across the nation less prepared for the dangers of a warming world.\u201d<\/p>\n A senior White House official confirmed the plan to The Times, saying the National Science Foundation, which funds the center, will be breaking up the facility to \u201celiminate Green New Scam research activities.\u201d As the largest federal research program on climate change, the center serves as the \u201cpremier research stronghold for left-wing climate lunacy,\u201d the official said. <\/p>\n Officials with the National Science Foundation on Wednesday said the agency is \u201creviewing the structure of the research and observational capabilities\u201d at the center, and is exploring options to transfer stewardship of its Wyoming Supercomputing Center<\/a> to \u201can appropriate operator.\u201d The agency is also looking to divest two aircraft managed by the center and to \u201credefine the scope\u201d of modeling and forecasting research and operations moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cNSF remains committed to providing world-class infrastructure for weather modeling, space weather research and forecasting and other critical functions,\u201d the agency said. \u201cTo do so, NSF will be engaging with partner agencies, the research community, and other interested parties to solicit feedback for rescoping the functions of the work currently performed by NCAR.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the White House official characterized the center\u2019s work as \u201cclimate lunacy,\u201d changes in the climate are coming faster than many scientists predicted. The basic science of climate change has been well-established through decades of research.<\/p>\n Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, said it is hard to overstate the importance of the center. \u201cThere is no other institution like NCAR \u2014 not just in this country but really anywhere else in the world,\u201d Swain said during a briefing<\/a> Wednesday morning. He feared that no other global institution can absorb the entirety of its expertise. <\/p>\n Swain also described the administration\u2019s decision as \u201cnakedly politically partisan\u201d in a manner that does not align with public interest. The center\u2019s predictions \u201caren\u2019t just helpful or convenient \u2014 they are life-saving and economy-saving,\u201d he said, adding that shuttering the facility would be \u201can unbelievable, really genuinely shocking self-inflicted wound to American competitiveness.\u201d <\/p>\n Indeed, the loss of 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 computational resources to national and international scientists for running complex weather and climate models and simulations.<\/p>\n In California, many universities and state agencies use data and modeling from the center for air pollution monitoring, managing water, emergency planning and wildfire risk assessment, among many other uses. <\/p>\n Data and tools from the center are also used directly and indirectly by the private sector. <\/p>\n For instance, the center provides large amounts of atmospheric data, via the Climate Data Guide<\/a> and Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble Numerical Simulation<\/a>, that researchers, insurance companies and even AI data scientists can access and use to train models, gauge risk and make forecasts. <\/p>\n The aviation, energy and private weather forecasting industries all rely on data and tools developed by the center, including a technology product known as BoltAlert<\/a>, which is used to predict lightning strikes and the Maintenance Decision Support System<\/a>, which alerts snowplow and truck fleets about road conditions.<\/p>\n The $700-billion reinsurance industry also relies on the center\u2019s data, tools and climate models to create financial instruments, such as catastrophe bonds, that are directly tied to weather or natural disaster risks. Such vehicles are dependent upon thorough and precise past data, as well as climate models for forecasting potential risk.<\/p>\n For instance, the reinsurance giant SwissRe credits the work of the center in the development of its proprietary forecasting tool known as the CatNet. In a press statement about their product, the company said its catastrophe experts partnered with the center to create globally validated hail predictions.<\/p>\n Bill Wadell, a spokesman for AccuWeather, said there was \u201cno indication\u201d that the announcement of the dismantling of the climate center would affect his company \u201cat this time.\u201d However, he said the American public and economy \u201care best served when all sectors of the U.S. weather enterprise\u201d \u2014 public and private \u2014 work together toward \u201cthe common goal of best informing the public and protecting lives and property.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision to close the facility follows other efforts from the Trump administration to shut down scientific research and change the public view of climate change. That includes laying off hundreds of staffers<\/a> at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration and slashing funding for its scientific research arm. Earlier this year, the Trump administration also fired hundreds of scientists<\/a> working to prepare the congressionally mandated National Climate Assessment and removed the website<\/a> that housed previous assessments. <\/p>\n The announcement came as a surprise to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who said in a statement shortly after Vought\u2019s announcement the state had \u201cyet to receive information\u201d about the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cIf true, public safety is at risk and science is being attacked,\u201d Polis said. \u201cClimate change is real, but the work of NCAR goes far beyond climate science. NCAR delivers data around severe weather events like fires and floods that help our country save lives and property, and prevent devastation for families. If these cuts move forward, we will lose our competitive advantage against foreign powers and adversaries in the pursuit of scientific discovery.\u201d <\/p>\n When asked why the administration is closing the facility, White House officials pointed to so-called \u201cwoke\u201d programs at the center that they said \u201cwaste taxpayer funds\u201d and \u201cveer from strong or useful science,\u201d such as its Rising Voices Center<\/a> aimed at joining Indigenous knowledge and Earth science, and an art series<\/a> that explored the human relationship with water. <\/p>\n They also cited the center\u2019s research into wind turbines<\/a> that sought to better understand the impact of weather conditions on offshore wind production. Trump has been vocal about his opposition to offshore wind<\/a> and other forms of renewable energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Trump administration is moving to dismantle one of the world\u2019s leading climate and weather research institutions, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[54227,8010,20,54225,54228,3291,1512,48,52,51,47,50,49,54229,6230,25203,1695,1816,54226,2805,1968],"class_list":["post-99482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-atmospheric-research","tag-center","tag-climate","tag-climate-change-prediction","tag-daniel-swain","tag-datum","tag-facility","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-ncar","tag-scientist","tag-surprise-announcement","tag-trump-administration","tag-university","tag-weather-research-center","tag-white-house","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}