Can artificial clouds save the Great Barrier Reef?

Posing a serious threat to the 2,300km coastal reef are environmentally damaging processes we’ve become familiar with here at Thred – climate change, ocean acidification, and warming seas.

And although coral reef restoration projects are taking place around the world, these efforts will be unsuccessful if the surrounding waters don’t provide a stable enough environment, such as the correct pH levels and temperature – both of which are affected by global warming.

The ‘cloud-brightening’ project, run by oceanographers and engineers at Southern Cross University, is motivated by the future possibility that humans will be forced to interfere with Earth’s weather systems to manage these drastic effects of climate change.

As news broke about the trial, scientists around the world became sceptical, as they usually are when altering natural elements within the Earth’s ecosystem is proposed.

In response, David Harrison, the leader of the project, underlined that (if successful on a large scale) cloud brightening should not be viewed as a technological substitute for ongoing efforts to halt climate change.

Instead, Harrison said, it should be used to help sustain reefs while CO2 emissions drop off. Still in its testing stages, cloud brightening could offer some protection for these corals as we transition to cleaner, greener energy. A temporary band aid during the healing process if you will.

But even as Australian oceanographers become confident that boosting up cloud cover could work, by incorporating higher pressure during the misting, and new instruments for measuring how nanodroplet particles interact with clouds, they remain cautiously optimistic about the project.

‘There are only so many clouds available, and there is only so much you can brighten them,’ said Harrison. ‘Eventually, climate change just overwhelms things.’

So, even if this reef-protecting project becomes a worldwide practice, governments still need to get their heads out of the clouds and start creating stronger policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. See what I did there?