Cloud seeding: the goods and the evils

Technology has gone very far in terms of making the lives of humans easier. we have only read about life in the early days without modern technology, no one really knows what it feels like to exist back then. If something drastic happens and modernization rolls back like a thousand years, very few of us humans currently inhabiting the planet earth will survive.

That's even going too far. Take the mobile phones as we currently have them away and a large percentage of the human population may not survive.

That shows the extent to which technology has come as far as our existence is concerned. So many things that no one may have ever thought possible about a thousand years ago are now being done with ease.

Who could have thought technology will make precipitation possible?

Yes. with technology, it is now very possible to make it rain without waiting for it to happen naturally. The technology that makes this a reality is called cloud seeding.

Cloud seeding in a few words

In order to understand cloud seeding and how this technology makes artificial rain possible, an understanding of how rain takes place naturally is first needed.

We all first need to know that rain is a form of precipitation - liquid precipitation. Precipitation can also be in the form of drizzle, sleet, hail, snow, and ice crystals. Irrespective of the type of precipitation, clouds need to be formed first.

Clouds are formed when tiny water vapors in the upper end of the atmosphere, usually 50 feet above the ground combine together to form visible water droplets. When the same thing happens below 50 feet above the ground, instead of the cloud, what we have is fog.

As the water vapors continue to combine to form visible water droplets, a point is reached that the water droplet can no longer keep floating. Thus, gravity acts on the water droplets and they fall to the ground in the form of rain. At this point, it is said that the cloud has reached a saturation point, a point where precipitation is inevitable.

One interesting thing though is that the water droplets that eventually give rise to precipitation combine around microscopic specks of dust, salts, or any other particulate pollutants otherwise known as cloud condensation nuclei. Without these core materials, there cannot be precipitation.

Basically, with cloud seeding, what scientists do is artificially introduce cloud condensation nuclei, usually in the form of small silver iodide particles. These particles are introduced to the water droplets that are building up to form a cloud in a variety of ways:

• Using a plane or drones
• Shooting the particles all up from the ground using appropriate technology.

Thus, once a small amount of cloud has gathered over a place, the process of precipitation can be accelerated using this cloud-seeding technology. It has been successfully used in parts of the United States, China, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and a host of other places across the world.

The ifs and buts

The most brilliant of technologies will always have their downsides. With cloud seeding, the natural process of cloud formation and precipitation is disrupted. This can have long-term consequences on precipitation.

The disruption to the natural process of precipitation may be desirable in some cases. Clouds normally move from upstream to downstream. If the upstream clouds are seeded to create rain, it means that the chances of rain falling downstream have been limited. Without clouds, there cannot be rain.

Now, this particular effect can be used to the advantage or disadvantage for man. For example, a place that is meteorologically predicted to experience excessive rainfall and its consequent flooding can be protected by seeding the cloud to rain upstream. This will reduce the chances of rain in the place.

Just as this technology can be leveraged to prevent excessive rain and flooding in a place, it can also be used to create one. Apart from that, the reverse can also be used - create drought in a place.

The future

Even though cloud seeding technology dates some while back, there is no doubt that the technology will continue to be perfected as modernization advances.

The intention behind cloud seeding is a very good one, just like every technology. However, the tendency to use this technology for evil goals exists just like every technology as well.

We live in a world where greed reigns. Bigger countries are exploiting smaller countries, avarice is at an all-time high, personal/group agendas keep proliferating and diplomatic relationships among countries keep going south. The fear that cloud seeding technology can be utilized as a weapon in a conflict situation is a valid one.

This is perhaps the fear of Australians around July this year. When Sydney experienced a massive amount of rainfall and its consequent flooding, conspiracy kept spreading online about the possibility of cloud seeding being the cause. While the conspiracy of cloud seeding may not be true, the fear is logical. I mean, when the rain that is supposed to be for 8 months happens in just 4 days, fear and conspiracy theories are normal.

Even though the technology seems expensive currently, I will not rule out the chances of it becoming a massive weapon in the hands of the oppressor in the nearest future.

What do you think?

Resources

https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/preciptypes
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/07/21/cloud-seeding-uae-artificial-rain-drones-electricity/8040330002/
https://www.dw.com/en/how-to-make-it-rain-cloud-seeding-to-combat-drought/a-62914900
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62049654