Cloud Brightening Scheme Should Be Tested Over Oceans, Scientists Say

An international group of scientists has urged a small-scale experiment to test the viability of creating human-made clouds as a way to counter the effects of global warming. Writing in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the scientists say
Geoengineering conceptualization
John McNeill
there should at least be a scientific debate over the possibilities of so-called cloud brightening, a process that involves sending particles, in this case sea water, into the atmosphere to create clouds that would, theoretically, reflect a greater amount of sunlight back into space. While ethical and political questions remain about such geoengineering schemes, that is no reason to not test the technology, said Rob Wood, a University of Washington physicist and one of the paper’s authors. In the paper, the scientists suggest a small-scale test in which salt water is sprayed from a ship or barge followed by airborne measurements of the physical and chemical characteristics of the resulting clouds.