Integration and collaboration were major themes as NCAR and UCAR made their way through the first decade of the new century.

New branches of NCAR research sometimes emerge through the advent of new technology, a change in national priorities, or a disastrous weather event. Other research topics have threaded their way through the center’s entire half-century history.

A team of scientists is tackling a scenario that is the stuff of Hollywood thrillers: What happens if a medium-sized asteroid strikes Earth? In particular, what if it crashes into the ocean? The question is not fanciful.

The concepts of environmental sustainability that broke into public awareness in the 1970s took on new overtones two decades later. In its first report, released in 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made it clear that ever-increasing amounts of human-produced greenhouse gases posed a real risk to a sustainable future.

Atmospheric research made enormous gains in the 1990s through the growth of high-speed data exchange facilitated by the Internet. At the same time, another byproduct of government research—the Global Positioning System—was bringing its own benefits to the field.