The Wild New Plan to Cool the Planet Before a "Super El Niño" Hits

Is it possible to turn down the sun? Some scientists are proposing a unique technique to help to combat the intensifying El Niño pattern that is looming on the horizon. Read on for the details of this unconventional plan.

Scientists Propose Radical Plan to Combat El Niño

A new study published in the journal Science Advances is proposing that scientists combat the threat of a Super El Niño by injecting particles into clouds to try to dim the sun's light. Known as "solar geoengineering (SG)," the plan could also potentially be used to mitigate other types of extreme weather events.

The concern over a rapidly strengthening El Niño pattern is raising the alarm bells in the meteorological world. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center (CPC) raised the chance of a Super El Niño to 81% by December in its last update. Should this forecast come to fruition, the entire world could be threatened by extreme weather events, ranging from heat waves to severe drought to frequent flooding.

The same researchers at UC San Diego who are proposing the SG plan are also warning that a Super El Niño could cost the global economy trillions of dollars.

Scientists believe that injecting special aerosols into the Earth's stratosphere will generate more clouds over the open ocean waters. This "marine cloud brightening" would, in theory, reflect the sun's rays toward space. This redirection of sunlight would naturally cool the surface below.

The researchers at UC San Diego ran simulations of what would have happened with this strategy during the major El Niño years of 1997 and 2015. They found that injecting the aerosols would have increased cooling and drying by 40%.

Skeptics of the marine cloud brightening plan note that the process would have to be applied continuously for a long period of time. They also raise concerns about the unknown side effects of literally dimming the sun.

While there are no definite plans to test out the sun-dimming defense with this current El Niño, some scientists believe that we must continue to look for solutions as climate change intensifies.

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