cloud seeding uk

Then Schaefer and his colleague, Bernard Vonnegut, discovered that silver iodide, which is structurally similar to ice, also did the job. [25] Schaefer discovered the principle of cloud seeding in July 1946 through a series of serendipitous events. [citation needed], An attempt by the United States military to modify hurricanes in the Atlantic basin using cloud seeding in the 1960s was called Project Stormfury. Cloud seeding has also had some unforeseen and undesirable effects. Silver iodide is used as a reagent. [citation needed], An electronic mechanism was tested in 2010, when infrared laser pulses were directed to the air above Berlin by researchers from the University of Geneva. [61] On 12 October 2005 the European Patent Office granted to King Bhumibol Adulyadej the patent EP 1 491 088 Weather modification by royal rainmaking technology. It is a scientific procedure of weather manipulation that alters a cloud’s capability to produce rainfall by dispersing cloud condensation agents into the air. Two federal agencies have supported various weather modification research projects, which began in the early-1960s: The United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation; Department of the Interior) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA; Department of Commerce). [44] In 2008, there were plans for 12 districts of state of Andhra Pradesh. It creates rain. Cloud seeding, or commonly referred to as weather modification, is the treatment of individual clouds or cloud systems in an attempt to achieve a desired beneficial effect, including fog and hail mitigation, and additional precipitation in the form of either rain or snow. When cloud seeding, increased snowfall takes place when temperatures within the clouds are between −4 and 19 °F (−20 and −7 °C). More recently, in cooperation with six western states, Reclamation sponsored a small cooperative research program called the Weather Damage Modification Program,[34] from 2002–2006. Schaefer discovered the principle of cloud seeding in July 1946 through a series of serendipitous events. In 2015 cloud seeding was done daily in Malaysia since the haze began in early-August. Donald A. Klein, 1978: Environmental Impacts of Artificial Ice Nucleating Agents, Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., Stroudsburg, 256 pp. [13] Whether this attempt was successful is a matter of dispute, with Roelof Bruintjes, who leads the National Center for Atmospheric Research's weather-modification group, remarking that "we cannot make clouds or chase clouds away." The Tasmanian experiments were so successful that the Commission has regularly undertaken seeding ever since in mountainous parts of the State. [87] Outcomes of the study are hoped to ease continuing drought conditions in the states South East region. From March 1967 until July 1972, the US military's Operation Popeye cloud-seeded silver iodide to extend the monsoon season over North Vietnam, specifically the Ho Chi Minh Trail. According to an article by John Vidal for The Guardian, declassified minutes from an British air ministry meeting in 1953 showed discussions about cloud seeding having the potential to “explode an atomic weapon in a seeded storm system or cloud…. Cloud seeding began in France during the 1950s with the intent of reducing hail damage to crops. Since 1961, we have been working in the sky, providing unmatched, scientifically based meteorological services and atmospheric solutions. Price, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States National Academy of Sciences, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Cloud seeding in the United Arab Emirates, "Nonlinear climate response to regional brightening of tropical marine stratocumulus", "Cloud seeding, no longer magical thinking, is poised for use this winter", "Cloud seeding' not effective at producing rain as once thought, new research shows", "Planned and Inadvertent Weather Modification", "WEATHER MODIFICATION ASSOCIATION (WMA) POSITION STATEMENT ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF USING SILVER IODIDE AS A CLOUD SEEDING AGENT", "Storms Above the Desert - Chap. km, the density of the site clusters is such that at least 2 sites will be able to target a single hail cloud, initial detection of hail cloud formation to firing of the rockets is typically 7–10 minutes in its entire process with a view to seed the formation of much smaller hailstones, high in the atmosphere that will melt before reaching ground level.[70]. [68], During the sixties, Irving P. Krick & Associates operated a successful cloud seeding operation in the area around Calgary, Alberta. The goal of this work is to change the amount of precipitation that falls from the sky or to alter the type that would reach the ground. The purpose of the defense is to prevent damage to farmland and cities. The request asks for a definition of “cloud-seeding” and for various information that the Department of Energy and Climate Change may hold. He instantly realized that he had discovered a way to change super-cooled water into ice crystals. Within the month, Schaefer's colleague, the atmospheric scientist Dr. Bernard Vonnegut, was credited with discovering another method for "seeding" super-cooled cloud water. The fear that cloud seeding could potentially change the course or power of hurricanes and negatively affect people in the storm's path stopped the project. [30] The 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron carried out the operation to "make mud, not war". [66], In Oregon, Hood River seeding was used by Portland General Electric to produce snow for hydro power in 1974-1975. [67], The US signed the Environmental Modification Convention in 1978 which banned the use of weather modification for hostile purposes. [21], "In 1978, an estimated 3,000 tonnes of silver were released into the US environment. Published 18 February 2013 Brexit During the 1930s, the Bergeron–Findeisen process theorized that supercooled water droplets present while ice crystals are released into rain clouds would cause rain. In December 2006, the Queensland government of Australia announced a $7.6 million in funding for "warm cloud" seeding research to be conducted jointly by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the United States National Center for Atmospheric Research. [15][16][17] The toxicity of silver and silver compounds (from silver iodide) was shown to be of low order in some studies. These agencies and other state agencies applied the Clean Water Act of 1977 and 1987 to establish regulations on this type of pollution. Friend, T. Kohler, L.W. Cloud seeding is widespread and growing, with some 150 ongoing projects counted worldwide in 2012 (according to the government of Australia). “All humans influence nature in some fashion, whether its driving a car and emitting pollutants, adding fertilizers to crops, or flipping on a light switch that’s powered by natural resources,” he says; although whether two wrongs making a right stands as a valid argument remains to be seen. The most common chemicals used for cloud seeding include silver iodide, potassium iodide and dry ice (solid carbon dioxide). The research focused on winter orographic seeding to enhance snowfall in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, and precipitation in coast ranges of southern California. One big benefit of cloud seeding is being able to create rain in regions that are most affected by droughts, lessening the impact of the harsh climate. Reclamation sponsored several cloud seeding research projects under the umbrella of Project Skywater from 1964 to 1988, and NOAA conducted the Atmospheric Modification Program from 1979 to 1993. It was unclear whether the project was successful. Howell, Wallace E., 1977: Environmental Impacts of Precipitation Management: Results and Inferences from Project Skywater. The modern experiment is not supported for the Australian Alps. 1953 – 1956: CSIRO carried out similar trials in, Late-1950s and early-1960s: Cloud seeding in the, This page was last edited on 27 February 2021, at 00:03. [39] China used cloud seeding in Beijing just before the 2008 Olympic Games in order to have a dry Olympic season. In mid-altitude clouds, the usual seeding strategy has been based on the fact that the equilibrium vapor pressure is lower over ice than over water. [62] The budget of the Department of Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation in FY2019 was 2,224 million baht. And 15 years on, the evidence is still relatively scarce. Eleven western states and one Canadian province (Alberta) have ongoing weather modification operational programs. [60] The project took about ten years of experiments and refinement. [59], Thailand started a rain-making project in the late-1950s, known today as the Royal Rainmaking Project. Commercial Aviation Creating Ice Haze and “Accidental Geoengineering” December 2015 Cloud Seeding • Geoengineering . And in 1947, a hurricane on the east coast of the US was seeded with 102kg of dry ice, before going from a northeasterly to a westerly direction into Georgia, where it caused severe damage. Most of the Arab countries are classified as having “extreme water scarcity” according to the UN, and the UAE has been using cloud seeding since the 1990s to keep up with increased demand for fresh water, due to population growth, economic development and lifestyle changes. Cloud seeding offers a potential solution to this, and the wondrous thing is, it can be used literally worldwide… theoretically. [71] A similar project in Spain is managed by the Consorcio por la Lucha Antigranizo de Aragon. [58] Despite NEA denials, some believe that the hailstones are the result of cloud seeding in Indonesia. Some say cloud seeding is playing god, but Darin Langerud, director of North Dakota water commission’s atmospheric resource board, says messing with weather isn’t anything new. [6] The experimenters posited that the pulses would encourage atmospheric sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide to form particles that would then act as seeds. References by his son, James M Schaefer, Ph.D. 6-24-2013. Supercooled water in the sky needs particles such as dust or salt (with an ice crystal structure) so they can condense and subsequently fall as rain – but these can often be lacking in the atmosphere. The method was discovered in 1946 by Dr Vincent Schaefer, who, as Bruce Lambert wrote in his obituary of him, was “hailed as the first person to actually do something about the weather and not just talk about it”. The trial required changes to NSW environmental legislation in order to facilitate placement of the cloud seeding apparatus. [7], A study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences failed to find statistically significant support for the effectiveness of cloud seeding. But this increased rainfall is having less than desirable effects on a country ill-equipped for such heavy rainfall. Another method the programme is supporting is the use of drones to alter the electrical properties of clouds to induce electrical seeding. US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, CO, 208 pp. “One project supported by the programme has already filed a provisional patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a new application of nanotechnology to cloud seeding,” he says. The seeding takes place only in the northern parts of Israel. If you wanted a guarantee that it wouldn’t rain on your wedding day in 2015, you could have done so for the small price of £100,000. ([2]), The Soviet Union created a specifically designed version of the Antonov An-30 aerial survey aircraft, the An-30M Sky Cleaner, with eight containers of solid carbon dioxide in the cargo area plus external pods containing meteorological cartridges that could be fired into clouds. Data collated since the 1960s suggests huge agricultural sector losses are avoided yearly with the protection system, unseeded the hail will flatten entire regions, with seeding this can be reduced to minor leaf damage from the smaller hailstones that failed to melt. One country undeterred by such concerns, and leading the way with international cloud seeding research is the United Arab Emirates, whose government has just launched a $5m (£3.6m) programme, the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP), to research rain enhancement. Cloud seeding has also had some unforeseen and undesirable effects. In 2004, Snowy Hydro Limited began a trial of cloud seeding to assess the feasibility of increasing snow precipitation in the Snowy Mountains in Australia. Weather Modification, Incorporated is the leader in atmospheric assessment and evaluation. Rain drenched the summit anyway. That lake was, at that time (1972–73), the primary water supply for Stillwater, Oklahoma and was dangerously low. [79] Another society for cloud seeding operates in the district of Villingen-Schwenningen.[80]. It adopted the latest technologies available on a global level, using sophisticated weather radar to monitor the atmosphere of the country around the clock.[50]. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? [4] Introduction of a substance such as silver iodide, which has a crystalline structure similar to that of ice,[5] will induce freezing nucleation. "[2], In 2003 the US National Research Council (NRC) released a report stating, "...science is unable to say with assurance which, if any, seeding techniques produce positive effects. Learn more. "[22], Cloud seeding over Kosciuszko National Park—a biosphere reserve—is problematic in that several rapid changes of environmental legislation were made to enable the trial. Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.co.uk. However, there have been several detailed ecological studies that showed negligible environmental and health impacts. Cloud seeding has been the focus of many theories based on the belief that governments manipulate the weather in order to control various conditions, including global warming, populations, military weapons testing, public health, and flooding. And in response to concerns over the danger of spraying chemicals into the air, Langerud says, “Cloud seeding chemicals such as silver iodide have been proven not to have negative impacts on the environment in the small concentrations being used”. [40] In February 2009, China also blasted iodide sticks over Beijing to artificially induce snowfall after four months of drought, and blasted iodide sticks over other areas of northern China to increase snowfall. Formerly, cloud seeding was rejected in Australia on environmental grounds because of concerns about the protected species, the pygmy possum. But despite some countries agreeing to the UN’s Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques in 1977, the UK government still thinks cloud seeding “may be a factor in conflict situations or a reason to precipitate conflict”. In 1985 the Moroccan Government started with a Cloud seeding program called 'Al-Ghait'. But research and technology is continuing to improve methods, according to Alya Al Mazroui, programme director at UAEREP, who says there is “growing interest” in cloud seeding. Final Environmental Statement (INT FES 77-39). They have been carrying out defense since 1983. He decided to move the process along by adding a chunk of dry ice just to lower the temperature of his experimental chamber. But is the answer a rather controversial method of inducing rainfall that came to life in the Forties with rocky beginnings, asks Jessica Brown, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Check out Cloud Seeding by Bhoo, Ynm and Cipolletta on Amazon Music. ", "(PDF) Cloud Seeding In The UAE Research Paper", Singapore haze hits record highs from Indonesia fires, "Hail" reported in the Western end of Singapore, "Weather modification by royal rainmaking technology", "North American Weather Modification Council", "Wyoming cloud seeding experiment begins this month", "Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques - A/RES/31/72 Annex - UN Documents: Gathering a body of global agreements", "Alberta's cloud-seeding pilots see 2nd busiest year in 20 years", "Mitigation of Hail Damages by Cloud Seeding in France and Spain", "Moscow Testing Cloud Seeding; Promises Winter Without Snow", "Homepage of the Society for cloud seeding Rosenheim (in German)", "The cloud seeders are ready for takeoff (in German)", "Cloud seeding aircraft is ready for service (article in German)", "On the Analysis of a Cloud Seeding Dataset over Tasmania", "ARTIFICIAL CLOUDS COULD SAVE VULNERABLE CORAL REEF FROM CLIMATE CHANGE", "West African Monsoon And Rainfall Enhancement Studie - Mali", "Chemtrails: Real conspiracy, or wild theory? [24], In 1891 Louis Gathmann suggested shooting liquid carbon dioxide into rain clouds to cause them to rain. Yet scientifically acceptable proof for significant seeding effects has not been achieved". These then evaporate leaving behind very small salt crystals, which water vapour clings to, creating clouds that reflect the sun more effectively. By using the technique, farms can yield more crops due to the fact that farmers will be able to grow plants in areas that might not have supported them in the past. Cloud seeding is the manufacture of clouds by aerosol attached to aircraft - you can see the chemtrails in most highly populated areas now. It is postulated that hygroscopic seeding causes the droplet size spectrum in clouds to become more maritime (bigger drops) and less continental, stimulating rainfall through coalescence. As the agent gets absorbed by the cloud, it begins to form ice crystals inside which then grow as they suck up moisture. From 1962 to 1988 Reclamation developed cloud seeding applied research to augment water supplies in the western US. The Ministry of Defence has denied knowledge of so called "cloud-seeding" experiments during early August 1952. While not a new technique, hygroscopic seeding for enhancement of rainfall in warm clouds is enjoying a revival, based on some positive indications from research in South Africa, Mexico, and elsewhere. This led the US Health Services and EPA to conduct studies regarding the potential for environmental and human health hazards related to silver. [88], In Mali and Niger, cloud seeding is also used on a national scale.[89][90]. Cloud base seeding , when nuclei are released into the updraft, can be done from below the cloud or even from the ground. Cloud seeding is the most common method of trying to force rain or snow. Cloud seeding is a form of weather modification. They believe that it increases the amount of rain over several increasingly arid regions, including its capital city, Beijing, by firing silver iodide rockets into the sky where rain is desired. Following ideas generated between him and Nobel laureate Langmuir while climbing Mt Washington in New Hampshire, Schaefer, Langmuir's research associate, created a way of experimenting with supercooled clouds using a deep freeze unit of potential agents to stimulate ice crystal growth, i.e., table salt, talcum powder, soils, dust, and various chemical agents with minor effect. Schaefer was working for the US General Electric company, conducting an experiment in a cloud chamber containing a supercooled liquid cloud, as part of his research into creating artificial clouds. The practice involves emitting silver iodide from airplanes and ground stations. The UAE’s National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology reportedly told Gulf News that cloud seeding success rates are between 15 and 30 per cent, depending on whether the atmosphere is cloudy or clean. The country’s first cloud seeding mission this year caused flooded roads in Abu Dhabi. In Australia, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) conducted major trials between 1947 and the early-1960s: Only the trial conducted in the Snowy Mountains produced statistically significant rainfall increases over the entire experiment. Now, cloud seeding uses magnesium, sodium chloride and potassium chloride. [29], Dry ice and silver iodide agents are effective in changing the physical chemistry of super-cooled clouds, thus useful in augmentation of winter snowfall over mountains and under certain conditions, in lightning and hail suppression. 3: Tampering with the Weather", "Welcome to the Air Combat Information Group", www.willthomas.net/Chemtrails/Articles/Weather_Warfare, "Agreement on the Precipitation Enhancement Project (PEP) between the World Meteorological Organization, the Government of Spain and other Member States of the World Meteorological Organization participating in the Experiment ATS 14 of 1979 ", "The Precipitation Enhancement Project of the World Meteorological Organization, Program and Progress", "The Weather Damage Modification Program", Critical Issues in Weather Modification Research, "Melinda Liu: Can China Control Olympics Weather? Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud. When released by devices on the ground, the fine particles are carried downwind and upward by air currents after release. But Al Mazroui insists safety is a priority: "The significant technological advancements we are now seeing could ensure that rain enhancement becomes ever safer and more affordable,” he says. [76] In October 2009, the Mayor of Moscow promised a "winter without snow" for the city after revealing efforts by the Russian Air Force to seed the clouds upwind from Moscow throughout the winter.[77]. The company says that “cloud seeding is now considered a mainstream tool, primarily to improve rain precipitation and snow”. A 2010 report by the Science and Technology Committee states that the line between peaceful and hostile usage of cloud seeding is “very thin,” and a country facing drought and humanitarian crisis, for example, may perceive a lack of rain as theft by a neighbouring county. Each site protects an area of 10 sq. The operation resulted in the targeted areas seeing an extension of the monsoon period an average of 30 to 45 days. US researchers concluded in 2003 that there was little evidence to suggest cloud seeding actually works, and said more researched was needed. These findings likely result from the minute amounts of silver generated by cloud seeding, which are about one percent of industry emissions into the atmosphere in many parts of the world, or individual exposure from tooth fillings. Aeronautical engineer and glider pilot, Alan Yates (who was involved in the operation) said after being told the cloud seeding operation had produced rain that it was not until the BBC news bulletin [about the Lynmouth flood] was read later on, that a stony silence fell on the company. [citation needed], Seeding of warm-season or tropical cumulonimbus (convective) clouds seeks to exploit the latent heat released by freezing. But cloud seeding, the latest of many geo-engineering proposals to mitigate climate change, has a drawback: get it only a bit wrong, and you make the problem worse. [18], Accumulations in the soil, vegetation, and surface runoff have not been large enough to measure above natural background. Indonesian authorities are turning to the technique of cloud seeding to try to stop more rain falling in the flood-hit capital Jakarta. The Alberta Hail Suppression Project is continuing with C$3 million a year in funding from insurance companies to reduce hail damage in southern Alberta. In Slovenia oldest aeroclub: Letalski center Maribor carries air defense against hail. [10], However, Jeff Tilley, director of weather modification at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, claimed in 2016 that new technology and research has produced reliable results that make cloud seeding a dependable and affordable water supply practice for many regions. [63], Cloud seeding was used due to the low amount of rain causing low power generation from hydro in March 2019, In the United States, cloud seeding is used to increase precipitation in areas experiencing drought, to reduce the size of hailstones that form in thunderstorms, and to reduce the amount of fog in and around airports. For release by aircraft, silver iodide flares are ignited and dispersed as an aircraft flies through the inflow of a cloud. [48], To counter drought and a growing population in a desert region, Kuwait is embarking on its own cloud seeding program, with the local Environment Public Authority conducting a study to gauge its viability locally. [8]:13, A 2010 Tel Aviv University study claimed that the common practice of cloud seeding to improve rainfall, with materials such as silver iodide and frozen carbon dioxide, seems to have little if any impact on the amount of precipitation. Top seeding allows for direct injection of the seeding agent into the supercooled cloud top. While researching aircraft icing, General Electric (GE)'s Vincent Schaefer and Irving Langmuir confirmed the theory. A registered society[78] maintains aircraft for cloud seeding to protect agricultural areas from hail in the district Rosenheim, the district Miesbach, the district Traunstein (all located in southern Bavaria, Germany) and the district Kufstein (located in Tyrol, Austria). [73] Currently, An-26 is also used for cloud seeding. In Southeast Asia, open-burning haze pollutes the regional environment. In the United States, funding for research has declined in the last two decades. Following ideas generated betw… During the 1930s, the Bergeron–Findeisen process theorized that supercooled water droplets present while ice crystals are released into rain clouds would cause rain. [citation needed], An Austrian study[37] to use silver iodide seeding for hail prevention ran during 1981–2000, and the technique is still actively deployed there. Base seeding is the release of the seeding agent in the updraft of a cloud base. This process is known as "static" seeding. These agents act as ice nuclei and basically manipulate the intrinsic mechanisms of cloud … 8 Chemicals Used in Artificial Rain - Cloud Seeding When there is a lack of water, problems like dehydration, sanitation, to industry supply will surface. Check out Cloud Seeding by Distant Stars on Amazon Music. [86] The New South Wales (NSW) Natural Resources Commission, responsible for supervising the cloud seeding operations, believes that the trial may have difficulty establishing statistically whether cloud seeding operations are increasing snowfall. The results were substantial, but caused an undue burden on the locals who experienced overpowering rainfall causing street collapses and mud slides. But most of the time, the desired effect is more rain, not less. However, some research indicates that silver toxicity is bio-accumulative in aquatic environments, causing respiratory distress to some species of fish (Aquatic Toxicology Volume 49, Issues 1-2, May 2000, Pages 111-129). Tony Speller asked to see Ministry of Defence files when he was MP for North Devon under Margaret Thatcher. Together with Professor Henry Chessin, of SUNY Albany, a crystallographer, he co-authored a publication in Science[27] and received a patent in 1975. 1947 – 1952: CSIRO scientists dropped dry ice into the tops of cumulus clouds. Cloud seeding (table) Seeding might be done from the cloud-top , when nucleior dry ice is released directly in the supercooled cloud, dropping flares ore pellets into the clouds updraft. Price, A.C. Byers, D.A. In Germany civic engagement societies organize cloud seeding on a region level. In 2016, 56 countries had cloud seeding operations, compared to 42 in 2011, as estimated by the World Meteorological Association.

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