Tip Sheets
As NCAR faces dismantling, Cornell expert says scientific progress should be apolitical
March 16, 2026
Media Contact
According to new reports, the Trump administration is reviewing proposals to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), one of the world’s leading climate and weather laboratories. The National Science Foundation had asked for feedback about how to “restructure” the lab but not said when a decision would be made.
Natalie Mahowald
Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences; Reducing Climate Risk Working Group co-leader for the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability
Natalie Mahowald, a climate scientist at Cornell University, says scientific progress should be apolitical. She and several colleagues submitted a letter to the NSF in support of the center.
Mahowald says:
“NCAR is a great facility which should not be targeted by politicians: scientific progress should be apolitical and not targeted for political reasons.
“The dismantling of NCAR would be devastating for environmental sciences in the U.S. NCAR is a center of excellence, and a hugely important resource for scientists, currently run by a collections of universities for the good of the whole community. NCAR is an amazing source for the education of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to enable important research. Trying to dismantle NCAR by itself has done irreparable damage to the scientific progress in the U.S. but actually dismantling it would be devastating.
“There are many facilities run by NCAR, including the supercomputers, observational equipment, community weather and earth system models. If these are no longer supported, or changed adversely in their support, this will reduce our ability to forecast extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heat, precipitation, and flooding events.”
