The Trump administration says it plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado,

which is the nation's premier atmospheric science center.

In announcing the closing, budget director Russell Vote called the center, quote,

one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country.

N-car, as the center is known, was founded in 1960

and has facilitated generations of breakthroughs in climate and weather science. The announcement

has drawn outcry from meteorologists and climate scientists across the country. Earlier this week,

I spoke with two of them who are very familiar with

the center's work. Brown University's Kim Cobb is a climate scientist and director of the Institute

at Brown for Environment and Society, and Matthew Capucci is senior meteorologist at MyRadar.

Thank you both so much for being here. Kim Cobb, to you first. What is Encar and why,

as a climate scientist, is it so important and seemingly precious to this community?

Thanks for having me, William. Encar is a really historic institution in our field. It's, of course,

dates back decades now. And over that time,

it has really woven itself into the fabric of both weather and climate science across the

country and around the world. We're talking about unique, one-of-a-kind facilities like

supercomputers, ticked out airplanes, and most importantly, a staff of over 800 people who are at the top

of their game in innovating in weather and climate science for public good, putting out data

that is on every single climate scientist computer around the country, if not around the world,

and a nexus of collaboration as well that is important

training grounds for the next generation of leaders.

And Matthew Capucci as a meteorologist, how important is N-Car to your profession?

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