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Crafoord Winner: How Pollution Hides True Global Warming
6 Feb
Summary
- Discoverer of CFCs as potent greenhouse gases.
- Pioneered understanding of Earth's heat-trapping atmospheric blankets.
- Led experiments measuring pollution's impact on climate.
Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a recent Crafoord Prize laureate, has spent half a century advancing our understanding of climate. His early work in the 1970s identified chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as potent greenhouse gases. Ramanathan developed a framework for understanding atmospheric heat-trapping gases, likening them to "blankets" that warm the planet.
He led pivotal experiments like the Earth Radiation Balance Experiment (ERBE) to measure energy balance. His research revealed that naturally occurring water vapor significantly amplifies warming. Ramanathan also investigated the cooling effect of aerosols from air pollution, crucial for understanding why observed warming was less than predicted.
His collaborative efforts, including large-scale experiments over the Indian Ocean, confirmed aerosols' substantial global cooling effect. Ramanathan emphasizes that climate science must guide policy, urging leaders to accept the worsening reality and help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change impacts like drought and extreme weather. He also champions initiatives like cleaner cooking stoves to address health impacts from indoor air pollution.
