Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences

There is about a 50% probability that the blanket of manmade greenhouse gases surrounding the planet is already thick enough to warm the planet by 2.5 C. With continued consumption of fossil fuels at current rate, the warming could even exceed 4 C. Irreversible and iconic changes to the earth system are likely during this century and beyond. Scientific community and decision makers should urgently search for ways to contain the warming below 2 C as agreed upon in Copenhagen. There are feasible and sustainable ways to accomplish this Herculean task by thinning the blanket and by reducing black carbon levels, both of which have significant co-benefits to the inhabitants of the planet. Geo engineering is another option, but it requires more scientific scrutiny and has many negative side effects. The talk will conclude with a description of Project Surya which is an ambitious rural intervention project to slow down climate change in S Asia.

Bio
Dr. V. Ramanathan has played a key role in the climate research field for more than 30 years. He discovered the greenhouse effect of CFCs and other manmade gases. He forecasted that global warming would be detectable by the year 2000. He co- discovered the widespread South Asian Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABCs), and linked them to dimming, slow down of the monsoon rainfall, retreat of Himalayan glaciers as well as to decreased agricultural harvests. His most recent publication suggests that human activities have likely committed the planet to exceed the threshold for several climate tipping points during the twenty first century. Dr Ramanathan was awarded the 2009-Tyler Prize(with R. Alley), the latest in a row of many national and international awards.