With the strongest Super El Niño on record now underway, scientists are investigating a controversial method that could stop the weather cycle in its tracks.Researchers say that artificially brightening the clouds could shield the world from the floods, extreme heat, and wildfires that El Niño will bring.By injecting tiny particles like salt into the atmosphere, scientists could make the clouds above the equatorial Pacific more reflective.This geoengineering technique could reduce the amount of El–Niño–driven heat that makes it to the lower atmosphere.According to the researchers' new paper, published in the journal Science Advances, this effect is so strong that it could flip a hot El Niño year into a cooling La Niña year.Deployed in the Pacific Ocean before Super El Niño, cloud brightening could increase the cooling and drying effects associated with La Niña by more than 40 per cent.Co–author Dr Katharine Rick, a climate scientist from the University of California San Diego, says: 'It's a different way of thinking about geoengineering.'We need to understand a lot more, but if there is a way to use this in addition to the risk reduction tools to mitigate El Niños, why wouldn't we consider it?' Scientists say that artificially brightening the clouds over the Pacific Ocean could prevent the floods, extreme heat, and wildfires associated with the coming Super El Niño. Pictured: NASA satellite image of the El Niño weather pattern growing