“Scientists are trying to regulate the weather with ambitious experiments that may even tackle global warming. Is this a great step forward?” The Independent looks at the strangest of these ideas. “Who would wish further mayhem on an already wayward weather system? Yet this is just one of a number of ideas for controlling the elements mooted by climate scientists as a solution to rising temperatures. Other methods include whitening clouds, shooting mirrors into space and cloaking the Sahara in reflective material. The term for these ideas is climate geoengineering. Within a few years this acronym may be as familiar as CO2 emissions and climate change are today. Messing about with the sun doesn’t sound a natural solution to climate disaster, but it is not the preserve of cranks and despots. And it’s probably closer than you imagine.”