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Bay Area hosts first-in-nation experiment to slow

global warming — by helping clouds deflect
sunlight
By Anthony Edwards , Newsroom Meteorologist
April 3, 2024

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Matthew Gallelli with SRI International, a nonprofit research institute, operates a cloud aerosol research instrument
during a first-of-its-kind geoengineering field study launching aboard the aircraft carrier Hornet in Alameda.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

UPDATE: Environmental groups rally against controversial Bay Area

geoengineering research

In Alameda, scientists are embarking on a novel attempt to cool the Earth — by

spraying salt into clouds.

The work, known as marine cloud brightening, is controversial and is just one
method of geoengineering — which describes interventions meant to slow
Earth’s warming. But proponents say the technology may be needed to mitigate
climate change.

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To brighten clouds, researchers spray microscopic sea salt into the air over the
ocean to boost clouds’ reflectivity. This means less sunlight is absorbed, leading
to a planetary cooling effect.

On Tuesday, scientists from the Marine Cloud Brightening Program scaled up

their research from the laboratory to the flight deck of the decommissioned
aircraft carrier Hornet in Alameda, kicking off a field campaign that will
continue until autumn.

The scientists from the University of Washington are experimenting with the
size and concentration of sea salt particles emitted from a spray machine. Cloud
brightening has been simulated by computer models, but the field work is the
first of its kind in North America and only the second of its kind in the world.
The foggy climate of the Bay Area, the researchers say, is ideal for these
experiments.

The group hopes to refine their formula for artificial sea salt and determine
whether their recipe could brighten clouds and cool the planet in a significant
way.

How marine cloud brightening works

In order for clouds to form, water vapor droplets need a surface on which to
stick. Over land, dust, pollen and ash serve as seeds for cloud droplets, while
marine clouds are mainly composed of sea salt particles.

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Scientists hypothesize that by manually increasing the number of particles in

the atmosphere, clouds will reflect more sunlight back to space, causing Earth to
cool.

When clouds reflect more sunlight, they look brighter and whiter to the human
eye.

“A white car in a parking lot on a sunny day is going to be cooler than a black car
… same idea,” said Lynn Russell, an atmospheric chemist at UC San Diego’s
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who is not involved in the project.

But scientists are just beginning to test cloud brightening in the real world, and
they aren’t yet sure whether it will actually work. Simulations project that if 15%
of Earth’s marine clouds were brightened, the globe would cool by roughly a
degree, said Rob Wood, the lead scientist for the project and a professor at the
University of Washington.

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“If you increase the number of cloud droplets by increasing the number of sea
salt particles, it’s like increasing the number of mirrors to reflect sunlight back to
space,” Wood said.
In fact, particles from human pollution, such as wood burning and vehicular
exhaust, provide a cooling, a slight offset to the greenhouse warming effect. Bad
air quality is linked to health problems like asthma, so over the last decades,
officials have ratcheted up regulations, and global air quality has generally
improved. But recent studies find clouds are becoming less reflective as
pollution declines, accelerating Earth’s warming trend.

Jessica Medrado, research engineer with the Cloud Atmospheric Aerosol Research and Engagement program, talks with
her fellow scientists over radio before a plume of salt water is sprayed aboard the aircraft carrier Hornet. Medrado led
the design of nozzles that output salt particles nearly a thousand times smaller than a human hair.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

“How much extra warming we get now from aerosol reductions is kind of telling
us how much cooling we could have if those aerosols were somehow returned
into the system,” Wood said.

One way to do that: Seed clouds with salt.

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From a large machine resembling a giant snow maker, the group at the Hornet
sprays salt water into the air. As the salty plume moves downwind, the water
evaporates, leaving behind tiny salt particles nearly a thousand times smaller
than the width of a human hair. In the coming months, the scientists will
document what happens in the atmosphere.

“We take those measurements and the (weather) conditions on the flight deck …
and we’ll see how the model simulations of the plume compares to what we
measure,” said Sarah Doherty, the director of the program and an atmospheric
scientist at the University of Washington.

Scientists aim to replicate the natural size and concentration of sea salt particles
found in marine clouds. If particles are too big in size or number, clouds become
too heavy, produce rain and dissipate. Too few particles, and the brightening
effect is negligible.
Matthew Gallelli with SRI International controls the input of pressurized sea salt and water into the cloud aerosol
research instrument aboard the aircraft carrier Hornet. The instrument can spray billions of microscopic sea salt
particles into the atmosphere every second.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

The experiments are brief and small scale. Residents will not see changes to
clouds in Alameda in this first phase of the work, according to the scientists.

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The next step of research, potentially in the coming years, would attempt to
brighten clouds off the California coast. Airplanes, equipped with the same
measurement tools, would fly through clouds and test the particle effects.

Interested residents can explore the research equipment and information

posters aboard the Hornet’s Sea, Air and Space Museum as early as Friday.
Occasionally, visitors will also be able to watch the studies in action aboard the
flight deck.
Alameda’s perfect weather
California is a cloud-forming machine in spring and summer. During these
seasons, cool, humid winds blow from the Pacific Ocean into San Francisco Bay,
making Alameda the ideal climate for marine cloud brightening research.

“When you look at satellite images, there’s often this low layer of clouds that’s
relatively thin and near the surface,” Russell said. “And those are the best for
brightening because, well, they last a long time.”

Matthew Gallelli with SRI International controls the orientation of the cloud aerosol research instrument salt water
plume aboard the aircraft carrier Hornet in Alameda. Prevailing westerly winds push the plume down the Hornet’s flight
deck, where instruments measure the size and concentration of sea salt particles as the plume interacts with the
atmosphere.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

The summertime clouds and fog that Bay Area residents are accustomed to blow
straight out of the west, over San Francisco and toward Alameda. With the
Hornet aligned in a west-to-east orientation, the salt spray can be released at the
west end of the flight deck and measured on the east end.

A controversial science
Scientists say the implementation of large-scale marine cloud brightening
projects and other geoengineering technologies is still years or decades away, if it
is feasible at all.

Geoengineering is a complicated science in its early days. And climate

interventions raise serious social, political and economic questions. But global
warming is accelerating — 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record. And
geoengineering alone won’t solve climate change.

Scientists like Russell say that before more drastic solutions are deployed, the
focus should be on reining in greenhouse gas emissions and making further
investments in solar and wind power.

“Emitting particles to offset global warming is not the smartest idea … but it may
be better than doing nothing,” Russell said. “Given the point we’re at with
warming and climate change, we feel it’s important to know what our options
are.”

Reach Anthony Edwards: anthony.edwards@sfchronicle.com

April 3, 2024

Anthony Edwards
NEWSROOM METEOROLOGIST

Anthony Edwards is a newsroom meteorologist at The San Francisco Chronicle.

He joins the Chronicle from the University of Washington where he was previously the president of the
campus weather forecasting team and an editor at the student newspaper, The Daily UW.
Edwards enjoys exploring San Francisco's parks, playing tennis, hiking, swimming and attending a
ballgame when the Mariners visit the Giants and the Athletics.

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