Indian-origin Scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan Awarded Crafoord Prize for Climate Research

Key facts

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Crafoord Prize to Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a distinguished research professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego).
• The prize, worth 8 million Swedish krona (approximately $900,000), recognises his work in expanding the understanding of how humankind affects the atmosphere, climate, and air quality.
• Ramanathan discovered in 1975 that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are potent greenhouse gases, with one molecule having the same warming effect as up to 10,000 molecules of carbon dioxide (CO2).
• His research in 1985 concluded that trace gases such as methane and nitrous oxide are potentially as important as CO2 for long-term global warming.
• The scientist's findings on the greenhouse effect of CFCs provided the scientific basis for the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which banned the use of these chemicals.
• He identified and measured atmospheric brown clouds, a 3-kilometre thick layer of air pollution covering much of the Indian subcontinent, which masks some effects of global warming.
• Ramanathan served as a council member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) from 2012, advising three consecutive popes on climate change policy.
• Before moving to the United States (US), Ramanathan studied engineering in Bengaluru, India, and worked at a refrigeration company.
• His research also demonstrated for the first time that clouds have a cooling effect on the planet and that water vapour can amplify the warming effects of CO2.