My Almost Trip to NCAR

BOULDER, Colo. — During my 14-hour drive from Phoenix to Colorado, I began to wonder what part of my trip could possibly be green?

As I've already experienced, Boulder is an already Earth-conscious city (see Greenings from Boulder!). At the heart of this lifestyle, though, is the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or as it is more fondly known as NCAR.

While I had every intention of moseying around for an hour or so, the center's exhibit was closed for maintenance. It was disheartening to say the least, not only because I thought I lost my blog material but also because that's all my boyfriend talked about all day.

So I got on the Internet to see what I was missing.

NCAR’s research was more extensive then I had first imagined. I had always just seen the center’s building overlooking the city and never understood what it really consisted of.

I checked out the research overview on the center’s Web site, where I found studies on climate, weather, social impacts, pollution, the Earth system and sun and space weather.

I also took a gander at what I could have done if the center was open Saturday.

It offers many different tours throughout the week, unorganized and organized. The sign on the door said the exhibit is open everyday to the public, but there are also guided tours that can be scheduled.

Most of NCAR's exhibits are hands on, like the Weather Gallery. It also has a new exhibit called the Climate Gallery that shows three different eras of climate change.

Looking for even more interaction? Try the Weather Trail, an outdoor exhibit with information about Boulder's weather along with views of the city below.

I guess I will have to kick myself until I get to go to Boulder again. I just might have missed out on another lesson on the way to my green lifestyle.

Photos by Melissa Krueger