Dr. Ramanathan is a Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego.

He currently chairs an international science team from Asia, Africa and Latin America under the Atmospheric Brown Clouds Program sponsored by the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Link: Full Biography

Science

For over 30 years, Professor Veerabhadran Ramanathan has been conducting original research in Climate and Atmospheric Science. As Director of the Center for Clouds, Chemistry, and Climate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, he conducts international field campaigns, develops umanned aircraft platforms for tracking brown cloud pollution worldwide, and educates and trains the next generation of scientists. His major focus now is on developing practical solutions for mitigating global climate change and slowing down the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers. Project Surya, a cook-stove project which attempts to eliminate climate warming pollutants from traditional biomass cooking, is his first climate mitigation project.

May 5, 2011
Pontifical Academy of Sciences Report
Dr. Ramanathan co-chaired a report, Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene, a product of a meeting at the Vatican April 2-4, 2011.
Link: Full Report (.pdf) New York Times News release

February 2012
New Publication:
Kar, A., Rehman,I.H., Burney, J., Puppala, S.P. Suresh, R., Singh, L., Singh, V.K., Ahmed, T., Ramanathan, N., and Ramanathan, V.(2012) Real-Time Assessment of Black Carbon Pollution in Indian Households Due to Traditional and Improved Biomass Cookstoves Environmental Science and Technology, Published Online 08 February 2012, 8 pp, is in press.
Link: Full Article (.pdf)

February 2012
Papers on short-lived climate pollutants:
Shindell, et al. (2012) Simultaneously Mitigating Near-Term Climate Change and IMproving Human Health and Food Security Link: Full Article (.pdf)

Ramanathan and Xu, (2010) The Copenhagen Accord for limiting global warming: Criteria, constraints, and available avenues Link: Full Article (.pdf)

Credit: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation. Click image for source article.

His research has identified the Himalayas and the Indo Gangetic Plains Monsoon as two of the most vulnerable regions to climate change.

Mitigation

February 16, 2012
Clean AIr Coalition announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recognizes Ramanathan:
On February 16th, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants Initiative was annouced. See the announcement from the US State Department. More information on targeted Short Lived Climate Pollutants here. See coverage in the San Diego Union Tribune

November 28, 2010
New York Times Op-Ed:
In To Fight Climate Change, Clear the Air, Dr. Ramanathan and UCSD Professor David Victor outline mitigation opportunities for the COP 16 Conference in Cancun, Mexico.
Link: Full Piece (.pdf)

October 18, 2011
Providing Clean Cooking and Lighting Technologies and documenting their impacts on Air pollution, Climate, and Health:
On October 18th, 2011 Dr. Ramanathan presented at Ministry of Environment and Forests, Bangladesh and Ministry of Environment, Sweden conference in Bangladesh. Link: Video of Talk

February 25, 2011
Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone:
Black Carbon and Methane reductions receive global support. Dr. Ramanathan served as vice chair for this report commissioned by UNEP.
Link: Full Piece (.pdf)

September 9, 2010
Project Surya:
Over 3 Billion living in rural areas can not afford fossil fuel. Creating sustainable fuel options can have dramatic positive impacts on health and regional climate.
Link: Project Surya White Paper (.pdf)

Used by permission from Adam Ferguson, VII Network