Overview
- A peer-reviewed modelling study published July 8 shows deliberately brightening low clouds over the eastern tropical Pacific could interrupt the feedbacks that drive a super El Niño.
- The technique would spray tiny sea-salt droplets into stratocumulus clouds so they reflect more sunlight and cool the Niño 3.4 region, which in turn strengthens trade winds and cools surface waters.
- In simulations the team led by Jessica Wan found about nine months of early deployment could nearly halve historical super El Niño sea-surface warming and shorten those events.
- The authors stress the idea is theoretical because the modeled mission would need roughly 2,400 ships and spray volumes far beyond current nozzle prototypes, making real-world deployment infeasible today.
- Models also show plausible harms and trade-offs such as an earlier or stronger La Niña, changed rainfall patterns that could harm places like the Horn of Africa, and warming in parts of Europe and Asia, so researchers call for more study, governance work, and preparedness from forecasters.