Artificial cooling of the American climate may cause a heat wave in Europe

A recent study published in Nature Climate Change points to the potential negative consequences of geoengineering, including cloud brightening, on the global climate. The aim of this technique is to reduce temperatures by conditioning sunlight . Specifically, it involves dispersing salt water into the air with the aim of cooling the climate locally. But paradoxically, this operation in California could amplify the waves  the heat in Europe. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, used climate models to simulate the impacts of two cloud-lightening operations in the northeast Pacific Ocean. One was located near California, the other in Alaska. The results show that these interventions, while beneficial in the short term for certain regions, could have significantly adverse effects on others, especially Europe. (Cédric DEPOND, more at techno-science.net)