California IN BRIEF : SAN DIEGO : Scripps to Direct Study of Clouds

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography will direct a study of whether clouds accelerate or slow global warming, Scripps officials said. Under the $5-million program funded by the National Science Foundation, researchers will try to solve the puzzle of how clouds function--an effort that also could lead to better weather predictions and enable scientists to determine how acid rain forms. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a Scripps professor of ocean and atmospheric sciences, will direct the Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate.