Cloud Seeding

Cloud seeding is a very common technique for modifying rainfall; it works by dispersing substances into the air that accelerate condensation processes within clouds.As the need for water has increased, this technique has been improved. Critics point out that cloud seeding works in conditions where it would rain. This technique is used in a variety of countries with droughts, such as the United States, China, India and Russia. In China there is a lot of reliance on drought areas. In the United States, a cloud is injected with dry ice and/or silver iodide, either by plane or from the ground. In mountainous areas of the United States such as the Canadian Rockies and Sierra Nevada. According to some facts, there is evidence that the results have been very satisfactory.

Principle of Cloud Seeding

The actual effectiveness of the so-called "cloud seeding" method is controversial. By introducing artificial crystallisation nuclei ("carbonic acid snow", silver or lead iodide) into existing clouds, the aim is to increase the amount of precipitation in dry regions and to control and prevent severe weather events.

Experiments on a larger scale are being undertaken in the People's Republic of China, which maintains a state "weather modification bureau" that provided fair weather for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing or for the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic on 1 October 2009. For this purpose, chemicals are sprayed by aircraft to make rain clouds rain away from the capital. Rain was supposed to be produced in November 2009 as a countermeasure against a prolonged drought, however the manipulations triggered an unwanted snowstorm that caused difficulties in the capital.

Such measures to produce rainfall have also been considered in Venezuela and Russia, while cloud seeding was attempted in Bolivia during a drought in early 2017.

Cloud seeding has been researched in the United Arab Emirates since the early 2000s. In the hot desert region, small raindrops often evaporate before reaching the ground. Elevated concentrations of particulate matter were measured during the application of silver iodide. In July 2021, during a heatwave with temperatures reaching 50 °C, Dubai experimented with drones and electric charging to create larger droplets and avoid adverse environmental impacts from the use of chemicals. The effectiveness of this form of weather manipulation is still an open question.