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The National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado Boulder have been ranked in the top 10 globally for climate research, according to a UK analysis of the most highly cited climate research institutions.
Carbon Brief, a UK-based organization covering the latest developments in climate science and policy, published its 2026 ranking of the world’s leading institutions for climate research. The ranking is based on the number of papers written and the number of times they’re cited.
NCAR earned second place globally out of more than 40,000 institutions, with Carbon Brief noting it had some of the most highly cited authors. CU Boulder ranked No. 8, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranked No. 11.
“Anybody can write a paper about anything, but how it’s used and its impact on the field is measured by citations,” said Waleed Abdalati, the director of the Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences. CIRES was ranked 43rd on the list.
More than half of the funding and related research activities at CIRES come from its cooperative agreement with NOAA, where the university has about 350 people working on NOAA-related activities focused on studying the weather, climate and environment. That cooperative agreement is a big part of CIRES and CU Boulder’s strength in climate research, Abdalati said. CU Boulder also collaborates closely with Boulder’s NCAR.
More than one-third of the 500 institutions in the ranking are based in the United States, according to the ranking, “underscoring the threat currently posed by the Trump administration’s attacks on climate science.” NOAA, NCAR and CU Boulder have had layoffs and cuts to federal funding since the Trump administration took office.
Abdalati said many of the top entities on this list benefit from enormous investments from the government and other institutions, such as the Goddard Space Flight Center, which is placed at No. 6.
“For what is comparatively a modest investment, I think we have tremendous success and I think that’s good for the university, that’s good for Boulder and that’s good for the nation and the world,” Abdalati said. “I think it’s gratifying to see us rise and sit among the top of these large institutions.”
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