PTI

Dubai, Jun 10: A leading Indian climatologist has won United Arab Emirate's top environment award for his pioneering work on the effect of pollutants in global warming.

V Ramanathan was presented with the Zayed prize for scientific/technological achievements in environment by Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai, at a ceremony here on Monday.

Ramanathan shares the USD 3,00,000 prize money with co-winner and American environmental scientist, Jane Lubchenco.

The Zayed international prize for the environment is one of the most important contributions of the United Arab Emirates towards global efforts to promote sustainable development at the local, regional and international levels.

The prize, instituted in 1999, is open to both individuals and organisations. Awarded every two years in three categories, the prize is meant to recognise and encourage environment achievements supporting and promoting the implementations of agenda 21 of the UN millennium development goals and the Johannesburg plan of implementation for sustainable development.

The total prize amount in the three categories is USD one million. “He (Ramanathan) demonstrated the positive amplifying effect of water vapour absorption on global warming, the global cooling effects of clouds on climate,” an official statement said.

More recently, he made significant contributions to the discovery of the widespread atmospheric brown clouds (ABC) phenomenon.