{
  "id": 12380921,
  "title": "The most ambitious ideas to save the world from El Niño",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/06/the-most-ambitious-ideas-to-save-the-world-from-el-nino",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-06T13:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Scientist",
    "slug": "new-scientist",
    "url": "https://www.newscientist.com/article/2592044-the-most-ambitious-ideas-to-save-the-world-from-el-nino/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Countries worldwide are preparing for a challenging period as El Niño is expected to bring severe weather conditions. India is currently facing its driest monsoon season on record, while Indonesia has closed schools and advised residents to stay indoors due to toxic smoke from wildfires fueled by El Niño.\n\nScientists are exploring various ambitious methods to mitigate or even prevent the impact of El Niño. One such idea involves repurposing artificial upwelling, initially designed to increase ocean carbon uptake. This geoengineering technique would pump cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean to the surface, promoting plankton growth and absorbing atmospheric carbon. However, the feasibility of implementing this on a massive scale remains uncertain due to the immense technical challenges and potential impacts on marine life.\n\nAnother promising approach is marine cloud brightening, which entails spraying seawater droplets below low-lying clouds in the Pacific, enhancing their brightness and reflecting more sunlight back into space. This would lower sea-surface temperatures, strengthening trade winds and reversing El Niño patterns. While this method could significantly reduce an El Niño's strength and bring the system back to a neutral state, the technology for cloud brightening on such a scale does not yet exist, and there is no international framework for implementing such geoengineering interventions.\n\nEl Niño also poses significant threats to food supplies, potentially displacing 49 million people more than the current number. Scientists are working on developing heat-tolerant rice varieties to combat this issue. In the Philippines, researchers have discovered a gene variant that enables rice to maintain yield and quality during hot nights, potentially increasing yields by 31 to 78 percent compared to standard rice strains.",
  "summary": "A monster El Niño is brewing in the Pacific Ocean – but there may be ways we can stop the worst impacts from occurring",
  "key_points": [
    "India faces its driest monsoon season on record due to El Niño",
    "Scientists explore repurposing artificial upwelling to increase ocean carbon uptake",
    "Marine cloud brightening aims to reduce El Niño strength by reflecting sunlight"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}