Weather modification is the act of intentionally manipulating or altering the weather. The most common form of weather modification is cloud seeding, which increases rain or snow, usually for the purpose of increasing the local water supply.[1] Weather modification can also have the goal of preventing damaging weather, such as hail or hurricanes, from occurring; or of provoking damaging weather against the enemy, as a tactic of military or economic warfare like Operation Popeye, where clouds were seeded to prolong the monsoon in Vietnam. Weather modification in warfare has been banned by the United Nations under the Environmental Modification Convention.
CLOUD SEEDING
Cloud seeding is a common technique to enhance precipitation. Cloud seeding entails spraying small particles, such as silver iodide, onto clouds to attempt to affect their development, usually with the goal of increasing precipitation. Cloud seeding only works to the extent that there is already water vapor present in the air. Critics generally contend that claimed successes occur in conditions which were going to lead to rain anyway. It is used in a variety of drought-prone countries, including the United States, China, India, and Russia. In China, there is a perceived dependency upon it in dry regions, and there is a strong suspicion it is used to “wash the air” in dry and heavily polluted places, such as Beijing.[7] In mountainous areas of the United States such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada,[8] cloud seeding has been employed since the 1950s.
Project Cirrus was an attempt by General Electric to modify the weather which ran from 1947-1952. During that time, under the supervision of the United States Air Force, attempts were made to create snowstorms and seed hurricanes by using silver iodide. While General Electric reported positive results, they also acknowledged that their experiments were controversial.[9]
The United Arab Emirates has been cloud seeding since the 2000s and aims to increase rainfall by 15-30% per year. The materials used are potassium chloride, sodium chloride, magnesium, and other materials.[10][11]
Consequences
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Societal
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Not having adequate systems to handle weather modification may have disastrous consequences. “In the city of Jeddah in Western Saudi Arabia was damaged by floods in 2009 that reportedly killed more than 100 people; igniting questions of why the country doesn’t have effective drainage systems in place.”[11]
Human
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The U.S. National Library of Medicine notes that the silver iodide has no known “ill effects” on people, although people’s “hands may have remained yellowed for weeks” after being exposed to it.[12]
Weather Modification Project Reports
Publication History & Scope
In the late 1940’s and 1950’s many deemed “the deliberate or the inadvertent alteration of atmospheric conditions by human activity”, also known as weather modification, as a promising science of the future. Currently, the most common form of weather modification is cloud seeding, which increases rain or snow, usually for the purpose of increasing the local water supply. Weather modification can also have the goal of preventing damaging weather, such as hail or hurricanes, from occurring.
As part of Public Law 92-205 (1972), all non-Federal weather modification activities must be reported to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, via the NOAA Weather Program Office. Below is a list of these reports and is updated on a quarterly basis.
As required by that law, NOAA submitted a Report to Congress in 1979, available via the NOAA Library.
Submission Information
Persons subject to reporting.
As stated in Vol. 83, No. 19 of the Federal Register dated Monday, January 29, 2018, the Department of Commerce and the National Atmospheric and Administration requires that persons who engage in weather modification activities in the United States shall provide reports prior to and after the activity. This is Section 6(b) of Public Law 92–205.
All non-Federal weather modification activities must be reported to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, via the NOAA Weather Program Office. All reports submitted to NOAA are compiled and then posted on the NOAA Library Website
Activities subject to reporting.
(a)The following, when conducted as weather modification activities, shall be subject to reporting:
Seeding or dispersing of any substance into clouds or fog, to alter drop size distribution, produce ice crystals or coagulation of droplets, alter the development of hail or lightning, or influence in any way the natural development cycle of clouds or their environment;
Using fires or heat sources to influence convective circulation or to evaporate fog;
Modifying the solar radiation exchange of the earth or clouds, through the release of gases, dusts, liquids, or aerosols into the atmosphere;
Modifying the characteristics of land or water surfaces by dusting or treating with powders, liquid sprays, dyes, or other materials;
Releasing electrically charged or radioactive particles, or ions, into the atmosphere;
Applying shock waves, sonic energy sources, or other explosive or acoustic sources to the atmosphere;
Using aircraft propeller downwash, jet wash, or other sources of artificial wind generation; or
Using lasers or other sources of electromagnetic radiation.
(b)In addition to the activities listed above, other similar activities falling within the definition of weather modification as set forth in § 908.1 are also subject to reporting.
In addition to the activities listed above, other similar activities falling within the definition of weather modification as set forth in § 908.1 are also subject to reporting.
(c)The requirement for reporting shall not apply to activities of a purely local nature that can reasonably be expected not to modify the weather outside of the area of operation. This exception is presently restricted to the use of lightning deflection or static discharge devices in aircraft, boats, or buildings, and to the use of small heat sources, fans, fogging devices, aircraft downwash, or sprays to prevent the occurrence of frost in tracts or fields planted with crops susceptible to frost or freeze damage. Also expected from the requirement for reporting are religious activities or other ceremonies, rites and rituals intended to modify the weather.
(d)All activities noted in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section are subject to initial reporting. However, after the Administrator has received initial notification of a planned activity, he may waive some of the subsequent reporting requirements. This decision to waive certain reporting requirements will be based on the general acceptability, from a technical or scientific viewpoint, of the apparatus and techniques to be used.
(e) Other reporting exceptions may be made in the future by rule of the Administrator.
