Cloud brightening

In Australia, a team of researchers at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science are shooting chemicals into clouds. But this time, it’s not for rain – they’re attempting to reflect the sunlight back into space. Called ‘cloud brightening’, it might sound similar to cloud seeding, but it’s quite different. Cloud brightening is an attempt to save the Great Barrier Reef. The intention is to make clouds more reflective, thereby directing sunlight away from Earth in this region, cooling the ocean waters, and hopefully reducing coral bleaching by up to 70 per cent.