![\"Margherita](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Margherita_Bassi.png\")
<\/p>\nResearchers used computer models to see what would have happened had scientists caused marine cloud brightening in the face of strong past El Ni\u00f1os<\/p>\n
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Margherita Bassi<\/a><\/p>\n | Daily Correspondent<\/p>\n July 9, 2026<\/p>\n Earth is currently experiencing an occurrence of the El Ni\u00f1o climate pattern. Manipulating Earth\u2019s weather to fix problems might seem like an idea straight out of science fiction and, indeed, could have unintended consequences.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, the authors of a study published yesterday in Science Advances<\/a> argue that a particular type of geoengineering called marine cloud brightening should be taken seriously in the face of a recurring climate phenomenon called \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o.\u201d The approach would be controversial, but computer models indicate its potential to mitigate El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s destructive effects, according to the study.<\/p>\n El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a are two opposite, far-reaching climate phenomena<\/a> that take place in the Pacific Ocean on average every two to seven years, usually for around 9 to 12 months. El Ni\u00f1o usually brings about<\/a> more extreme weather patterns and raises Earth\u2019s temperatures. Given the shocking heat wave<\/a> recently seen in Europe, it might not be surprising to learn that we are at the beginning of the most recent El Ni\u00f1o event<\/a>, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which made the announcement<\/a> about a month ago. What\u2019s more, it\u2019s being described as a \u201csuper\u201d El Ni\u00f1o.<\/p>\n Intentional marine cloud brightening<\/a> involves putting particular aerosols into low clouds over water to make them more reflective, also called increasing their albedo<\/a>, the percentage of sunlight reflected by a surface, which would allow less sunlight to reach the ocean. Earlier research<\/a> revealed that smoke emitted by Australian bushfires in 2019 and 2020 brightened clouds in the southeast Pacific Ocean and seemed to help produce global weather patterns resembling La Ni\u00f1a\u2014essentially El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s opposite climate pattern.<\/p>\n In the wake of this revelation, scientists from the recent study used a computer model to see what would have happened if humans had deliberately caused marine cloud brightening in the southeast Pacific during strong El Ni\u00f1os in 1997 and 2015. Crucially, the simulation indicated that the sooner the employment of cloud brightening technology, the more effective the mitigation of the super El\u00a0Ni\u00f1o consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were able to turn what was an extreme or super El Ni\u00f1o into a neutral event, so it wasn\u2019t even an El Ni\u00f1o anymore at that point,\u201d Jessica Wan<\/a>, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago\u2019s Climate Systems Engineering initiative, tells Gizmodo<\/a>\u2019s Ellyn Lapointe.<\/p>\n Did you know? The history of El Ni\u00f1o<\/p>\n
Geoengineering could have serious and unexpected consequences, potentially solving one problem but causing something much worse. Kate Ricke<\/a>, a climate scientist at the University of California, San Diego, and co-author<\/a> of the study, is typically cautious<\/a> when it comes to these interventions, but sees the benefits as worth the potential costs.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest social concerns around geoengineering is the fact that if we use it to reduce long-term climate risks, we have to deploy it continuously for an indefinite period of time,\u201d Wan explains in a statement<\/a>. \u201cIf we could target natural variability, we could get some of the benefits of geoengineering without having to employ it indefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniele Visioni<\/a>, a climate scientist at Cornell University who did not participate in the study, seems impressed by the findings. Employing the geoengineering strategy against strong El Ni\u00f1os \u201cis really interesting and very new,\u201d he tells Science News<\/a>\u2019 Carolyn Gramling. \u201cThe fact that it looks like this could work is a really good indication that it is something worth thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThinking about\u201d is key here, as it doesn\u2019t seem like the theory is anywhere near real-world tests. There are \u201cmany, many unanswered questions and uncertainties as to the viability of marine cloud brightening\u201d in the context of managing the approach\u2019s cooling results, James Haywood<\/a>, a researcher at the University of Exeter who did not participate in the study, tells CNN<\/a>\u2019s Laura Paddison. In a separate interview with CNN,\u00a0David Keith, a geophysicist at the University of Chicago, said that while the study’s proof-of-concept is technically possible, \u201cthe technology simply doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers used computer models to see what would have happened had scientists caused marine cloud brightening in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-542223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/smithsonian_feature_images_5.png\")
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\n NASA via University of California, San Diego<\/p>\n
\n\tThe weather phenomenon supposedly originates from a term used by Peruvian fisherman.
\n\tThey occur every two to seven years, with scientists using ocean temperature records dating back to the 1800s to track their frequency.
\n\tThe earliest recorded El Ni\u00f1o may date back <\/a>to the late-16th century when a Spanish surveyor observed an abrupt change in weather patterns.
\n\tThe term “super El Ni\u00f1o” only dates back to 2003 <\/a>when it was used by Australian researchers.
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