The City Council of Alameda, California, voted early Wednesday to deny scientists permission to continue a controversial trial of technology that could one day be used to brighten clouds. The project, among the first of its kind, involved spraying saltwater on the deck of a former aircraft carrier moored at a city pier. The scientists behind it planned to test devices that can create and measure plumes of aerosols.
Much of the City Council members’ deliberation avoided the project’s larger implications, focusing instead on potential local health risks — including the proximity of spray to school soccer fields and neighborhoods — and whether project leaders had taken the proper regulatory steps. Sarah Doherty, a University of Washington professor who manages the cloud brightening research program, faced sharp questioning.