Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 01:43pm on 13 Feb 2026,Friday India Global
Indian-origin climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan, 82, won the prestigious 2026 Crafoord Prize in Geosciences, often called the "Nobel of Geosciences." The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognized his groundbreaking research on super-pollutants and atmospheric brown clouds. In 1975, while at NASA, Ramanathan discovered chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) trap heat 10,000 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. Born in Madurai, raised in Chennai, he began his career at a Secunderabad refrigerator factory handling CFCs. His Indian Ocean Experiment identified atmospheric brown clouds over South Asia, linking air pollution to weakened monsoons and accelerated Himalayan glacier melting. Now Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution, his work underpins the Montreal Protocol. The prize includes $900,000 and a gold medal. (PC: PTI)
