News Climate

Can geoengineering blunt El Niño’s fury?

Simulations suggest marine cloud brightening could weaken the climate pattern’s extremes

A satellite image of hot sea surface temperatures, shown by shades of red and orange, in the eastern Pacific Ocean that signaled the start of an El Niño event.

Ocean temperatures soared across the Pacific Ocean, seen here on June 8, signaling the onset of this year’s El Niño.

NASA

By Carolyn Gramling

There might be a way to geoengineer El Niño so that it wreaks less havoc, scientists say.

Adding aerosols to the atmosphere over a particular patch of the Pacific Ocean can increase and brighten clouds in the region, creating a cooling effect.