Planned closure of the US climate research institute NCAR

Statements by German atmospheric researchers via Science Media Centre (SMC)

The US government under President Donald Trump has announced plans to close one of the world's most important climate research centres – the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. The NCAR is a research institute that focuses on atmospheric research. It was founded in 1960 and employs hundreds of scientists. They research all aspects of the atmosphere, from the microphysics of cloud formation and the chemistry of air pollution to large-scale planetary waves and the effects of increased greenhouse gas emissions on the climate. In addition, supercomputers are used there, which make an important contribution to climate change modelling. The institute has been financed mainly from US federal funds to date.

The Science Media Centre (SMC) has asked a number of experts in atmospheric research to assess the Trump administration's announcement: What role has the NCAR played to date, what would be the consequences of closing the institute, and what impact has Donald Trump's second term in office had on climate research after eleven months?

Two experts from the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) have commented from the perspective of their respective fields:

Prof. Dr Andreas Macke
Director of TROPOS and Head of the Department of Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Processes, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, and Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Leipzig

"The fact that NCAR, one of the world's best-known and most successful atmospheric research institutions, is to be closed is a great shock for the excellent researchers at NCAR and for international atmospheric research. It is surprising that a country like the USA, which is so severely affected by extreme events, both natural and exacerbated by climate change, is withdrawing from this basic research."
Consequences of a possible closure
"With NCAR, internationally networked campaign work on research into critical areas such as the polar regions is also losing an important partner. Europe is now called upon to show leadership and provide greater support to its national partner institutions in atmospheric research."

Prof. Dr Hartmut Herrmann
Head of the Department of Atmospheric Chemistry, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, and Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Leipzig

"The description in the Nature article as the 'global mothership of atmospheric research' sums up the role of NCAR very well. NCAR is a national initiative in the USA with a major global impact. NCAR has been and continues to be central to atmospheric research and its connection to climate research. Many important figures in the history of atmospheric chemistry in Germany have very strong links to NCAR, such as Dieter Ehhalt (formerly FZ Jülich) and Guy Brasseur (DKRZ, MPI for Meteorology in Hamburg). With its departments covering all important areas of atmospheric research, field measurements, laboratory investigations and modelling on all scales, NCAR is a scientifically important and often leading institution. This naturally makes it an important cooperation partner for everyone working in the aforementioned areas. Its closure would have to be compensated for by an increase in activities elsewhere, and it would probably be strategically advisable for Europe to get involved here."
Impact after eleven months of the Trump administration
Many cooperating partners in the US – such as Harvard and Columbia Universities and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – are already affected by the measures and their scientific performance is being restricted as a result. In the field of atmospheric chemistry, this is leading to a restriction of research cooperation that cannot be easily compensated for. In some European countries, too, such trends could intensify and ultimately weaken atmospheric and climate research, even though it is urgently needed right now. This can be seen in the topics currently being addressed, such as forest fires as a source of air pollution, microplastics and PFAS in aerosol particles, wood burning in residential heating as a major source of air pollution, and the insufficient progress in climate protection, right up to the foreseeable failure to comply with the Paris Agreement."

Prof. Dr. Ina Tegen
Head of the Department of Atmospheric Process Modelling, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, and Professor of Atmospheric Process Modelling, University of Leipzig

"For decades, NCAR has been developing and operating leading climate and weather models that were deliberately designed as open community models and are used worldwide, including in Germany. As a pioneer and indispensable pillar of international climate research, NCAR contributes significantly to the scientific debate. NCAR's models and scientific contributions increase the robustness, comparability and credibility of climate projections – including for Germany and Europe."

National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, USA.