A Pre-Summer Project: Weather Modification

[Didinieve]

Hello, members. I've come across this science forum under a recommendation from some of my friends. I have still yet to see if your discussions contain viable content, regarding that I've only become a member recently.

 

Moving on from that, I am an aspiring student who is interested in environmental problems that impact our world or countries socially, economically, etc. Right now, I'm focusing on the topic of weather modification (otherwise known as geoengineering physics) -- more specifically, cloudseeding.

 

I have a google form with an article that summarizes my information, but I feel that it possibly needs more revision, or more areas to look into, like alternatives, organizations, and such.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1lXUIv84pH9ZdizUFDWankDW6z0PlJOSZrQRblz3w6e0

 

Which is why I'd like to bring up the question for our discussion forum: Should weather modification continue as a global study?

 

 

[Mordred]

Absolutely weather modification should continue as a global study. Far more study than modifying the weather itself. The environmental impact if any is a little out of my field however.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Mordred

[Manticore]

Unfortunately, weather is a chaotic system - meaning that the ultimate effects of any meddling with it are essentially unpredictable.

e.g. making it rain on your little bit of the world could eventually lead to massive storms or drought thousands of kilometres away.

[Didinieve]

Manticore, I can't help but notice that according to your profile picture displayed in your reply box, you appear to have experienced the culture and the environment of Tanzania, and probably other African countries. I used to know a friend from Tanzania, who described his hometown as drought-ridden and with few rainy seasons. Are you educated of government attempts to operate weather modification anywhere in Africa? If so, have you attempted to teach/inform the public or other organizations?

 

Forgive me; I know so little of countries across the Atlantic, but would appreciate your perspective and first-hand experience.

[Manticore]

I believe Libya attempted to bring rain to parts of the Sahara by anchoring sand dunes and planting them. To anchor the dunes, they sprayed the slip face with crude oil. This would probably work if you could cover a large enough area.

(I've seen massive storms over the desert where the rain never reached the ground - I assume the heat radiating from the ground was sufficient to re-evaporate the water thus making the storm grow still larger - I estimated the tops as being at over 80,000 ft.)

[Didinieve]

Thank you, Manticore. I shall look into this more. Hopefully, my school has the patience for just a BIT more area of interest. (Yes, that was sarcasm).

[Manticore]

Apparently Iran has also tried stabilising dunes with crude oil, as mentioned in this document: http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1488e/i1488e04.pdf

As has the UAE (way back in the 1980s: http://enhg.org/bulletin/b19/19_13.htm

 

Edit: Just found this - very impressive if they can pull it off: http://jveilleux.blogspot.com/2014/07/reforestation-to-take-back-desert-green.html

And - if you want to get deeper into this: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/amete/2016/3262451/

Edited June 18, 2017 by Manticore