Statement of the Commissione per l’ambiente e le grandi calamità naturali of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
for the announced dissolution of NCAR
December 2025
Antonio Busalacchi, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), announced on December 16 (https://news.ucar.edu/133054/ucar-statement-reports-nsf-ncar-could-be-dismantled) the planned dissolution of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The NCAR is one of the world's leading institutions for climate and atmospheric research. It is located on the slopes of the Colorado mountains in Boulder and is operated on behalf of NSF by the UCAR consortium, which includes colleges and universities from across the United States and beyond. It has one of the world's most advanced and powerful computing centers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and a fleet of aircraft for atmospheric research. Numerous cutting-edge research projects and new investigation instruments have been perfected at NCAR over the past decades, making it a leading center for the international scientific community.
The reason for dissolving NCAR, as Russell Vought (Budget Director) simply explained, is that this institution is a major source of climate alarmism. NCAR has never held political positions in its research but has always sought the most rigorous scientific foundations to reach conclusions that can objectively inform the public and assist policymakers.
Investing resources in scientific research is a political choice, and therefore it is up to those in government to decide how resources are allocated. This decision, in itself unquestionable, is nevertheless a measure of the government's liberal objectives and progressive vision: investments in the quality of research and the defense of freedom of thought characterize a government with a constructive vision for the future of society. On the other hand, the dissolution of NCAR is an operational attack on the freedom of thought in scientific research and the role that research plays in the sustainable development of society.