The Earth is more than 1.1 degrees Celsius (C) warmer than it was a century ago, and the past year was the hottest on record; however, we can avoid the consequences of global warming if temperature rises are kept under 1.5 degrees C, and plans are in place to do just that. A team of scientists from MIT believes they've discovered a way to pause the effects of climate change, and maybe reverse it entirely.

Our planet is predicted to warm by 3.2 degrees C by 2100, and drastic measures must be put in place to reduce warming to under 1.5 degrees C by the end of the century. Renewable energy use and the increase of electric vehicles have helped; however, to hit the 1.5 degrees C target, the UN believes “half of emissions cuts must be in place by 2030” and “fossil fuel use must decline by 6% per year.”

MIT researchers believe they have found a way to negate the effects of global warming or reverse them entirely by creating thin film-like silicon bubbles that would be joined together in space and positioned at the Earth and sun's Lagrangian Point. In theory, if the bubbles deflect 1.8% of incident solar radiation before it hits our planet, global warming would be reversed entirely.