\u201cSG (solar geoengineering) could theoretically be leveraged to mitigate extreme events by instead targeting compounding seasonal-to-multiyear events such as El Ni\u00f1o,\u201d wrote the researchers, who were led by UC San Diego climate scientist Kate Ricke.<\/p>\n
![\"Graph](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/marine-heat-wave-ocean-off-134254811.jpg\")
A graph showing a marine heat wave off the coast of Southern California. NOAA<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s Climate Prediction Center forecast an 81% chance that the natural climate pattern, defined by preternaturally warm temperatures on the Pacific Ocean\u2019s surface, would be \u201cvery strong<\/a>\u201d by December. <\/p>\n If true, this so-called super El Ni\u00f1o results in extreme weather events ranging from droughts to downpours and heatwaves. The resultant damages could reportedly cost the global economy trillions of dollars, the UC San Diego researchers declared.<\/p>\n Some researchers have blamed climate change for exacerbating El Ni\u00f1o\u2019s effects; UN chief Antonio Guterres warned<\/a> that \u201cthe world must treat it as the urgent climate warning it is.\u201d<\/p>\n However, \u201cthere is no evidence that climate change increases the frequency or intensity of El Ni\u00f1o events,\u201d according to the World Meteorological Association.<\/p>\n Either way, we\u2019re not defenseless against this apocalyptic weather event, or so the scientists say. According to the seemingly far-fetched study, we could mitigate the worst effects of El Ni\u00f1o through various weather alteration measures, including dimming the Sun.<\/p>\n This sci-fi-esque proposition would reportedly involve \u2014 not a giant celestial dimmer switch \u2014 but rather injecting special aerosols into the Earth\u2019s stratosphere to make clouds over the sea brighter in a method called \u201cmarine cloud brightening.\u201d In theory, this would reflect the Sun\u2019s rays back into space, cooling the surface below like intergalactic blackout curtains.<\/p>\n Researchers posited that this form of geoengineering could \u201ctheoretically mitigate extremes\u201d in seasonal weather events like El Ni\u00f1o, offering a more targeted and natural alternative to the \u201cforced response to greenhouse gases\u201d pushed by climatologists.<\/p>\n One major concern surrounding this radical plan? To curb \u201clong-term climate risks,\u201d this interstellar sunscreen would have to be deployed \u201ccontinuously for an indefinite period of time,\u201d according to coauthor and University of Chicago postdoctoral researcher Jessica Wan.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we could target natural variability, we could get some of the benefits of geoengineering without having to employ it indefinitely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n To prove this solar dimmer could work in seasonal bursts, the team built on a 2023 study<\/a> that found that aerosols given off by bushfire smoke over the Pacific Ocean had caused clouds to brighten, reflecting solar radiation back into space. In turn, this reduced the amount of heat that escaped into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n The UC San Diego researchers specifically simulated what would happen if the sun-blocking method were deployed deliberately in the South East Pacific during the major El Ni\u00f1os that originated in 2015 and 1997.<\/p>\n They found that this could increase cooling and drying effects by 40%.<\/p>\n Of course, the concept of geoengineering has been shaded by many climate scientists, who feel that playing sun god could distract from crucial solutions such as dialing back carbon emissions.<\/a><\/p>\n In addition, no one knows the side effects of this solar dimming proposal. <\/p>\n \u201cThese models are imperfect, and there\u2019s the possibility that you\u2019ll create an unpredicted problem that is worse than the problem you\u2019re trying to solve,\u201d Texas A&M University professor of atmospheric science Andrew Dessler, who was not involved in the research,\u00a0told\u00a0Wired<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Currently, there are no concrete plans to test this sun-dimming defense on the current El Ni\u00f1o, but Ricke nonetheless feels it\u2019s important to ponder said solution amid looming climate threats.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to understand a lot more, but if there is a way to use this in addition to the risk-reduction tools to mitigate El Ni\u00f1os, why wouldn\u2019t we consider it?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They\u2019re literally proposing we steal its sunshine. Researchers at UC San Diego have floated a wildly controversial plan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[4253,58629,79,3284,1608],"class_list":["post-761634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-climate-change","tag-el-nino","tag-science","tag-study-says","tag-sun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2015-thick-haze-blamed-forest-134254812.jpg\")
The sun is seen through the haze covering the southern city of Narathiwat on October 23, 2015. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n