San Diego, California, USA: Indian-origin climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan has been named the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Crafoord Prize in Geosciences by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, recognizing his pioneering contributions to the understanding of non-carbon dioxide climate pollutants.
The award honors Ramanathan’s groundbreaking discoveries on aerosol particles, short-lived climate pollutants, and non-CO2 gases, and their significant role in global warming and Earth’s climate system. The academy noted that his work laid the foundation for understanding how small atmospheric particles and gases contribute to climate change.
A distinguished professor emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Ramanathan said he was deeply humbled by the recognition, emphasizing the importance of scientific validation from the same institution that awards the Nobel Prize.
Born in Chennai in 1944, Ramanathan earned his doctorate from the State University of New York in 1974. In 1975, he made a landmark discovery identifying chlorofluorocarbons as “super greenhouse gases,” capable of trapping heat far more effectively than carbon dioxide—an insight that reshaped modern atmospheric chemistry.
During the 1980s, Ramanathan played a critical role in NASA satellite missions that measured Earth’s energy balance, demonstrating how human-produced greenhouse gases increase heat retention. After joining Scripps in 1990, his research expanded to include atmospheric aerosols, hydrofluorocarbons, and ozone depletion.
His large-scale field experiments over the Indian Ocean documented the far-reaching impact of air pollution, including soot particles that absorb sunlight, disrupt rainfall patterns, and accelerate Himalayan glacier melt. These findings contributed to international climate initiatives, including efforts under the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
Ramanathan is the second researcher from Scripps to receive the Crafoord Prize, which carries a monetary award of eight million Swedish kronor (approximately US$900,000). The honor will be formally presented during Crafoord Days in Lund and Stockholm from May 18 to 20, 2026.
