Great Barrier Reef: Making clouds brighter could help to curb coral bleaching, scientists say

Marine scientists have upped the ante in their fight to save the Great Barrier Reef from the devastating effects of coral bleaching.

Cloud altering technology is an environmentally
 benign option for preserving the reef, scientists say.

A team of Australian researchers at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science is working on plans to alter the clouds above the reef in a bid to save the delicate coral communities below.

Marine cloud brightening is the process of making larger and more reflective clouds over the ocean to cool the water underneath.

It may seem far-fetched, but Daniel Harrison, a postdoctoral research associate with the Ocean Technology Group at the University of Sydney, believes it could work.

Read Fiona Ellis-Jones’ ABC News story - “Great Barrier Reef: Making clouds brighter could help to curb coral bleaching, scientists say.”

(The idea the we use what is described as “cloud brightening” is really just geo-engineering given a more emotionally friendly description and, I wonder, if it works on this limited scale, what happens next? 

A two or three degree increase in temperatures is already locked into Earth’s climate system and the intellectual powers of humanity, and our present resources, should be directed toward adaptation ideas that will enable us to live through the coming century, rather than a piecemeal solution, as honourable as it is, to save one aspect of what it is that make life as we know it so rewarding - Robert McLean)