UC San Diego’s Ramanathan Wins 2026 Crafoord Prize For Climate Science

Photo: UC San Diego/Erik Jepsen

India-West News Desk

SAN DIEGO, CA – Climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a distinguished professor emeritus at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Crafoord Prize in Geosciences for pioneering research on atmospheric aerosols and climate pollutants.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Ramanathan’s work “laid the foundation for understanding how small particles and gases in the atmosphere drive climate change,” significantly advancing knowledge of Earth’s energy balance and global warming.

Ramanathan said he was “speechless and humbled” by the honor, noting that recognition from the same academy that awards the Nobel Prize reinforces the scientific basis of climate research at a time of growing public debate.

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla said the award recognizes Ramanathan’s “pioneering contributions to atmospheric science” and highlights how sustained investment in research helps protect the planet.

Over a career spanning five decades, Ramanathan transformed climate science by demonstrating in 1975 that chlorofluorocarbons are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat — a discovery that reshaped understanding of greenhouse gases and led to identification of other “super pollutants,” including methane and hydrofluorocarbons.

During the 1980s, he played a key role in NASA satellite missions measuring Earth’s energy budget, confirming that human-produced greenhouse gases are trapping increasing amounts of heat in the atmosphere. His later research showed that soot and other aerosols contribute to atmospheric warming, disrupted rainfall patterns, and accelerated Himalayan glacier melt.

These findings informed global climate policy, including efforts under the UN-led Climate and Clean Air Coalition to curb short-lived climate pollutants.

Born in Chennai in 1944, Ramanathan earned his PhD from the State University of New York in 1974 and joined Scripps Oceanography in 1990. He has advised world leaders, served four popes through the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and was a science advisor to the Holy See delegation at the 2015 Paris climate summit.

Ramanathan is the second Scripps scientist to receive the Crafoord Prize, which carries eight million Swedish kronor (about $900,000). The award will be presented in Sweden during Crafoord Days from May 18–20, 2026.