Innovative "Cloud Brightening" Technique May Help Save the Great Barrier Reef

(Reuters) - Researchers trying to save the Great Barrier Reef are attempting to cool the unusually warm sea temperatures using ‘cloud brightening’, a geoengineering technique designed to reflect more of the sun’s rays away from the Earth. The team is spraying microscopic seawater droplets into the air over the reef, which creates more cloud cover and more shade in an effort to save the health of one of the world's most important marine ecosystems.

In the last few weeks, and for the third time in five years, the Great Barrier Reef has suffered a mass bleaching event where stress from unusually warm water temperatures bleach the coral white and can kill it. February was the warmest month on record in terms of water temperatures around the reef, with readings in some places of more than 3 degrees Celsius above average for the time of year. "If we can brighten the clouds just a little bit over the whole summer, then we can cool down the water enough to stop some of the coral bleaching,” said project leader and Southern Cross University Senior Lecturer Dr. Daniel Harrison. The research comes after Australia suffered a devastating and lengthy bushfire season that burned nearly 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of bushland, killing 33 people and an estimated 1 billion native animals.

Reporting by Stuart McDill