"Erik M. Conway traces the history of atmospheric science at NASA, from its beginnings in 1958, the International Geophysical Year, through to the present, focusing on NASA's programs and research in meteorology, stratospheric ozone depletion, and planetary climates and global warming. But the story expands beyond science. NASA's researchers operated within an often politically contentious environment. Although environmental issues garnered strong public and political support in the 1970s, in the following decades many Americans opposed environmentalism as a threat to free-market capitalism." "Atmospheric Science at NASA critically examines this politically influential science, dissecting the often convoluted roles, motives, and relationships of the various institutional actors involved - among them NASA, congressional appropriation committees, government weather and climate bureaus, and the military."--BOOK JACKET.