Storm Warning: America's Earth Science · Episode 5 of 12 · 46 min
A Laboratory for the Sky: NCAR (1960)
American scientists built a national laboratory for the atmosphere that no single university could afford, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, founded in Boulder in 1960 and housed in an I. M. Pei building. Its single-agency funding made it powerful and exposed: in December 2025 the White House budget director announced plans to break it up, and a federal court blocked the plan in June 2026.
Who's who
- Walter Orr RobertsSolar astronomer and founding director of NCAR
- I. M. PeiArchitect of the Mesa Laboratory
- Russell Vought+1 more episodeWhite House budget director who announced plans to break up NCAR
Where it happens
- Boulder, Colorado+3 more episodesHome of NCAR and its Mesa Laboratory
- Climax, ColoradoSite of the coronagraph station Roberts operated from 1940
Timeline
- 1958National Research Council finds the atmosphere dangerously under-studied
- June 1, 1960UCAR incorporated with 14 founding universities
- April 1967Mesa Laboratory formally dedicated
- December 2025Vought announces plans to break up NCAR
- June 2026Federal court blocks the dismantling plan
Still debated
Vought's description of NCAR as climate alarmism is a political statement, not a scientific finding, and scientists say its work underpins weather prediction and storm warnings. The legal status of NCAR's funding and structure remains actively contested.