US judge blocks National Science Foundation from dismantling climate research centre in Colorado

Since its founding in 1960, NCAR has trained generations of scientists, served the military and other government agencies.

A judge has temporarily blocked the National Science Foundation from dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, a globally significant weather and climate research center based in Boulder, Colorado.

A judge has temporarily blocked the National Science Foundation from dismantling NCAR. (Representational Photo/AP)

Senior US District Judge R. Brooke Jackson on Monday granted a preliminary injunction to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a consortium of institutions that manages NCAR. The consortium sued the National Science Foundation in March, after the federal agency — which provides much of NCAR’s budget — announced plans to break apart the center’s functions. The lawsuit specifically challenged plans to remove supercomputer facilities in Wyoming from under the consortium’s management.

Since its founding in 1960, NCAR has trained generations of scientists, served the military and other government agencies, developed models that foretold climate change and deepened knowledge of critical weather phenomena, such as El Niño and wind shear.