The Control Of Rains

Technological advances have led the scientist and some organizations to control the rains, principally to combat drought and extreme rains; remain a controversial procedure.

In summary, clouds create from a condensation nucleus is a particle that absorbs moisture from its environment (hygroscopic); it can be sulfate and sea salt, soot, organic carbon, and mineral particles. This particle can vary to give different clouds. They attract water from their surroundings and can cause rain in the area.

Image 1: The seeding of clouds causes rain; it could be practical against drought.Image 1: The seeding of clouds causes rain; it could be practical against drought.

Cloud seeding uses hygroscopic chemicals to attract the circulating water in between. Cooking salt is the most commonly used material in cloud seeding in the United Arab Emirates. However, there are other materials such as silver hard and titanium dioxide, which also can attract water effectively for seeding clouds.

The chemicals are injected directly into the clouds using flare-equipped aircraft, as well, there is equipment through the use of ground-based generators to fire the material from the mountain tops. The effects can last for hours or even days.

In the United States, eight states are seeding clouds to overcome the megadrought. In some places, the government uses it to increase rainfall or prevent hailstorms. But their most common goal is to improve snowfall and usually silver iodide. These studies indicate that seeded clouds can produce 5% to 15% more snow compared to areas where cloud seeding did not occur.

The UAE is rarely associated with rain due to the dry nature of its location, which is why they resort to cloud seeding; in 2019, they occurred more than 185 times. Reports indicate that activity increases rainfall by an average of 10 to 15 percent and, under certain conditions, up to 30 percent. In the use of cloud seeding, they have suffered consequences such as flooded streets and flooded shopping centers. But this is because these types of environments are so hot and dry, their variations can be vaster and more drastic.

China has long sought to control the climate to protect agricultural areas and ensure clear skies for popular events. The Chinese government recently announced a principal expansion of its weather modification program, covering more than half of its country by 2025 to control the precipitation amount; rain, hail, and snow that reaches the ground. It plans to dramatically expand an experimental weather modification program to cover an area of more than 5.5 million square kilometers.

Image 2: The chemicals are launched to the sky by missiles.Image 2: The chemicals are launched into the clouds by missiles.

Image 3: Airplanes can also carry chemicals up to the clouds.Image 3: Airplanes can also carry chemicals up to the clouds.

The implementation of rains created with cloud seeding could help the regions most affected by the drought; There are even people who propose it as a means of irrigation for crops in a massive way to save water. The drought situation and thirst experienced by many world regions are not unknown. However, there could be other issues involved.

For example, Taiwan faces its worst drought in 56 years. Many of its reservoirs are less than 20% of their capacity, with water levels below 10%. At Baoshan No. 2 Reservoir in Hsinchu County, one of the principal water sources, the water level is at the lowest level in its history - only 7% of its capacity. The inhabitants have even had to store water massively.

Metal particles are usually harmful to the health of people, animals, and the environment; For example, titanium dioxide used in cloud seeding is a "possible carcinogen to humans," according to the World Health Organization.

It is especially harmful in the case of "soil microorganisms [bacteria, archaea, fungi] that are crucial for soil fertility, as they recycle nutrients that are important for plant growth," said Simonin, a researcher at French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA).

The fear of many people lies in the possible environmental and health impact that the chemicals used in the seeding of clouds can generate, the probable damage to health, and that they can fall to the land and water torrents. The spread of these chemicals is a situation that we have to avoid; however, the levels of these chemicals are usually low, and the product contains a lot of water.

Image 4: Areas at risk of drought.Areas at risk of drought.

On the other hand, we need to use impartially for equitable benefit. For example, the use of cloud seeding wakes up the complaints about this practice can decreased rainfall in neighboring territories. Cloud seeding takes the humidity from the environment, causing the generation of super-dry regions and humidity displacement. Some people consider cloud seeding a "robbery" of rain and consequently the total water decrease in the neighboring areas.

Regardless, climate modification studies are hard to design, conduct, and predict; for now. Cloud seeding can become a solution, but it could also cause worrying conflict and suffering for giant amounts of people. So should we play with the weather? Water is not abundant on Earth; the drought affects more than 55 million people a year; however, water consumption is increasing substantially all over the Earth.


References

  • Review of Persistence Effects of Silver Iodide Cloud Seeding. Journal Of Weather Modification. Alexis B Long, Bentleigh Victoria. April 2001. Link https://journalofweathermodification.org/index.php/JWM/article/view/236
  • Scientific American. Chelsea Harvey. Eight States Are Seeding Clouds to Overcome Megadrought. E&E News on March 16, 2021. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-states-are-seeding-clouds-to-overcome-megadrought/.
  • Wired. Paul Connolly. Bringing in the rain: Has the UAE’s cloud-seeding program gone too far?.  Release date: 11/1/2020. Link https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/media/bringing-in-the-rain-has-the-uaes-cloudseeding-program-gone-too-far(12f5a52e-4aec-450c-8690-db2a0e0c9523).html
  • Jesse Orrall. Cnet. Cloud seeding hopes to help fight drought by increasing rain. April 25, 2021 5:00 a.m. PT. Link https://www.cnet.com/news/cloud-seeding-hopes-to-help-fight-drought-by-increasing-rain/.
  • Texas Standard.  Michael Marks, Alexandra Hart. As Drought Threat Increases, Scientists Hope To Make It Rain By Seeding The Clouds. 2021-04-01. Link https://www.newsbreak.com/news/2195578100462/as-drought-threat-increases-scientists-hope-to-make-it-rain-by-seeding-the-clouds.
  • BBC. Cindy Sui. Why the world should pay attention to Taiwan's drought. BBC News. Published 20 April. Link https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56798308
  • CNN. James Griffiths China to expand weather modification program to cover an area larger than India. Updated 0343 GMT (1143 HKT) December 4, 2020. Link https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/03/asia/china-weather-modification-cloud-seeding-intl-hnk/index.html.
  • The Guardian. David Hambling. China plays rainmaker with modified drone flights. Sat 16 Jan 2021 06.00 GMT. Link https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/jan/16/weatherwatch-rainmaking-ganlin-1-china-drone.

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