While many scientists have some dire warnings against us trying to geoengineer our way out of the climate crisis, others don’t necessarily see it that way and are working on new methods to solve the problem.

Researchers are studying the idea of cloud brightening, utilizing ships to shoot salt water high into the atmosphere over the oceans in order to create long-lasting cloud cover. The additional clouds reflect more sunlight back into space, resulting in a cooling effect on the planet. In order to encourage discussion amongst other climate scientists, University of Washington atmospheric physicist Rob Wood detailed how a small-scale experiment to test the idea would work in a paper published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.