09/07/2026
As you may have noticed, many regions around the world are experiencing extreme heat. It's also incredibly hot here right now. You might also have heard that El Niño is here, and by the end of the year it could become the strongest on record.
However, have you ever considered a way to lessen the impact of El Niño? Scientists believe there might be a solution!
This solution is a type of climate geoengineering known as marine cloud brightening (or MCB). MCB suggests that injecting certain aerosols, particularly sea salts, into the atmosphere could brighten the cloudiest regions over the ocean. This would make the clouds whiter and more reflective, allowing more of the sun’s radiation to be sent back into space, which could help cool the planet.
In other words, if we can introduce aerosols into the atmosphere over a specific area of the Pacific Ocean, it could help increase and brighten clouds in that region, creating a cooling effect and potentially reducing the intensity of the El Niño event.
For more information on the climate model simulation of using MCB to reduce the strength of El Niño, please see the link in the comments.
Photo credit: NOAA
