--- title: "City Officials Halt Experiment to Hack Earth’s Climate, Citing Health Concerns" description: "The climate experiment explored a technique called marine cloud brightening, in which aerosols are used to help clouds reflect more sunlight." date: "2024-05-14" modified: "2024-05-14" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/halt-experiment-hack-climate" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "climate change" - "marine cloud brightening" - "solar geoengineering" - "the digest" --- # City Officials Halt Experiment to Hack Earth’s Climate, Citing Health Concerns ![The climate experiment explored a technique called marine cloud brightening, in which aerosols are used to help clouds reflect more sunlight.]() *\Image: University of Washington Marine Cloud Brightening Program\* ## Brightening Clouds To cool our planet in the wake of climate change, some scientists have advocated for blocking sunlight [by using clouds as giant reflectors](). But early forays into these feats of so-called marine cloud brightening have proved controversial. In Alameda, California, local officials have ordered scientists from the University of Washington to halt their experiments using a device that would inject cloud-brightening particles into the atmosphere, [*The New York Times* reports](), fearing that those particles could be hazardous. "The City is evaluating the chemical compounds in the spray to determine if they are a hazard either inhaled in aerosol form by humans and animals, or landing on the ground or in the bay," Alameda officials wrote on Facebook, as quoted by the *NYT*. They note, however, that "there is no indication that the spray from the previous experiments presented a threat to human health or the environment." The setback is emblematic of the resistance that sunlight-dimming efforts, or solar geoengineering, [will have to face](), even at this very nascent stage. As the *NYT* [previously reported](), the experiment was the first outdoor test of marine cloud brightening technology in the United States. ## Particle Power Airborne particles, or aerosols, play a crucial role in our climate. They serve as the medium for water molecules to clump around and become water droplets, seeding the formation of clouds. Marine cloud brightening proposes taking advantage of this by injecting them with tiny sea salt aerosols to boost the formation of water droplets, thereby creating denser clouds that bounce back more sunlight. In their experiment conducted last month, the researchers tested their snowmaker-like device for dispersing aerosols, the Cloud Aerosol Research Instrument (CARI), on the flight deck of the decommissioned aircraft carrier the USS Hornet. The purpose of the test was to see if CARI could reliably spray small sea salt aerosols into the air. Size is the key concern; the aerosols need to be fine in order to create sufficiently dense clouds. ## Salty Officials If city officials have it their way, definitive answers will have to wait. But the researchers, for their part, have defended their handling of the experiments. In a statement on Monday, UW's Marine Cloud Brightening Research Program argued that the sea salt aerosols "operate well below established thresholds for environmental or human health impact for emissions," as quoted by the *NYT*. The program also claims that the city was already informed about the details of the experiment, and that officials only demanded another review after the study began gaining media attention. Its fate lies in the hands of the City Council, which will meet on June 4 to discuss the study, according to an Alameda spokeswoman. "They could decide it doesn't pose any risk, and they could allow it to move forward," she told the *NYT*. **More on climate change:** *[Scientists Say New Material Can Suck Carbon Out of Atmosphere Faster Than Trees]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()