Cloud seeding is a way to artificially tweak the rain. Cloud seeding is the creation of artificial rain with the aim of increasing rainfall by artificially changing the weather. Cloud seeding is the deliberate placement of various substances in the cloud that act as a concentrated nucleus or ice nucleus in the formation of precipitation.
The first experiment with cloud seeding was conducted in 1948 by American chemist and meteorologist Vincent J. Schaefer.
Vincent Schaefer and Bernard Vanegu, American scientists working at GE (The General Electric Company) successfully sowed the seeds of a cloud with dry ice. And then the world saw the first artificial snowfall.
According to the GE agency, Schaefer and pilot Curtis Talbot boarded a small Fairchild plane and tried to sow with dry ice in a cloud floating over Shenkatady in New York, USA. Schaefer has been known as "Snow Man" ever since.
Many substances have been used in the experiment, but solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) and silver iodide have been the most effective;
When used in super cooled clouds or clouds (consisting of water droplets at freezing temperatures), they form a nucleus around which the water droplets evaporate. The resulting water vapor accumulates in ice crystals, which form rapidly as the water droplets attach to themselves. At freezing temperatures, calcium chloride particles condense into the nucleus in the cloud, forming raindrops around it. Using various technologies such as airplanes, rockets or ground scattering devices, salt particles like silver iodide and chloride are sprayed on the clouds to form cloud seeds in the clouds.
In the driest regions of the world, cloud seeding has been developed by the world's scientific research as a popular method of increasing rainfall.
Active cloud seeding programs are running in at least 56 countries, including the United States, China, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, and India.
The goals of cloud seeding are-
1. Increase rainfall,
2. Hail control,
3. Fog removal,
4. Changing the natural evolution of clouds to reduce lightning,
5. Reducing building damage.
One of the uses of cloud seeding-
In today's world, trying to make the impossible possible with the help of science seems like a never-ending phenomenon.
By removing the time of rain, it is possible to make rain at a convenient time through cloud seeding. This means that before the time when the sky needs to be clear, the rain particles are sown and the sky is cleared by raining.
- On May 9, 2017, a huge parade was organized in Moscow to mark Victory Day from the German Nazi forces, and the rain was stopped by cloud seeding. - German wine growers also use this method to avoid damage to the vineyard.
The risks or concern of cloud seeding-
-Unwanted environmental changes,
-Ozone depletion,
-Continuous acidification of the sea,
-Irregular changes in rainfall patterns, warming will increase rapidly if cloud seed sowing is stopped abruptly.
Despite its growing popularity, cloud seeding is still unknown to many. Scientists are still debating the success of technology and its long-term effects on cloud seeding.
Some meteorologists and atmospheric scientists have questioned its effectiveness.
Above all, the idea of cloud seeding, based on positive and negative effects, has added a different dimension to the world of technology.
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