A recent study has uncovered exactly how the method of cloud ‘engineering’ works and its effectiveness as a potential tool for climate cooling.

2023 was the hottest year ever recorded, and while countries find ways to ramp up decarbonisation initiatives, one method of offsetting global warming effects in the meantime could be through marine cloud brightening (MCB), otherwise known as marine cloud engineering.

In MCB tiny particles or aerosols are injected into marine clouds to make them even brighter and more reflective. Seeding these clouds with aerosols increases the amount of sunlight they reflect, thus redirecting incoming solar radiation back into space. It is thought that this ‘cooling’ method could contribute towards offsetting global warning.

MCB is already in use. For example, experiments are being carried out in Australia in an attempt to reduce bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef.

In a bid to discover just how effective MCB is and the ways in which this method creates a cooling...