In the coming decades, the challenge of the atmospheric sciences will be driven by the theme of global change, whether they be future changes driven by anthropogenic causes, or past changes driven by intrinsic or extrinsic mechanisms. At these timescales, the study of Earth's atmosphere encompass interactions with the biosphere, and how one species, humans, alter the natural cycles and long-term trajectory of the planet.

Atmospheric science is therefore intrinsically interdisciplinary, with chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, geology, and ecology all core disciplines. The Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center is a multi-college unit at UC Berkeley, with the goal to broaden the atmospheric sciences beyond its traditional boundaries to embrace the biogeochemical frontier and the human dimension. The Center facilitates communication and integration across these traditional boundaries. In doing so, we aim to define a new paradigm for investigating changes in the atmosphere by integrating the microscopic mechanisms of chemical, physical, and biological processes with large-scale ecological and geological interactions between the geosphere, biosphere, and oceans, and how these interactions alter atmospheric composition.

Our core and affiliate faculty members are drawn from the various core disciplines, but with a common interest in the atmospheric sciences.