An Introspective on Cloud Seeding
Published on Sunday, November 21, 2021
A Local Perspective
In 2001, BC Hydro commissioned a study on cloud seeding. The exact contents of this study are a mystery, so we can only speculate towards their contents. However, two years later the provincial Weather Modification Act was repealed. The implications are unclear, but they are certainly intriguing. [1]
A Tantalizing Option
Earth is certainly no stranger to cloud seeding. Cloud seeding has been ongoing for over 80 years and today cloud seeding is taking place in over 50 countries. [2]
China spends about $200 million per year on cloud seeding efforts and reports an increase in rainfall of 10-15%; an extra 50 billion cubic metres of water every year. [3][4]
In the United Arab Emirates, deteriorating groundwater and high costs of desalination make cloud seeding an attractive option; expenditures are unavailable but 242 cloud seeding flights were conducted in 2017. UAE also funds a $5 million grant every year to "research projects in the field of rain enhancement". [5][6]
Several states in America conduct cloud seeding. Among others, California, Colorado, and North Dakota have all established economic benefits from cloud seeding. [7][8][9]
Concerns
Cloud seeding is very much an evolving field (several sources in this text are from 2021) and questions remain on several fronts:
Two studies have found silver iodide to lack toxicity towards humans, but toxicity to other organisms is unquantified until more research is conducted. [10]
Concerns about stealing water have been made and rebuffed by several meteorologists in the media. Unfortunately, I cannot find any peer-reviewed studies to back up either argument.
My Thoughts
With all this taken into account, I do believe that cloud seeding is a viable option for governments to use.
The underlying issue, however, is climate change.
In the UAE, groundwater is being depleted faster than it is being recharged. This is exacerbated by one of the highest per capita water consumption rates in the world: 477 cubic metres per day, per person. This has forced the government to source 40 percent of its fresh water from costly, energy guzzling desalination plants. [11] [12] [13]
In Maharashtra, India, the government hired a cloud seeding company (aside: this is the very same company that BC Hydro hired) only after three consecutive years of drought slashed agricultural output by 33%. [14]
The human impact has been severe—1,300 debt-trapped farmers have committed suicide in Maharashtra in just the past six months.
Globally, cleantech startups raised 16 billion dollars in the first half of 2021 alone. [15]
As we approach 2 degrees, the stability of our climate will only continue degrading. Cloud seeding is a solution to only the symptoms of climate change. Without greater changes in society, cloud seeding may prove ultimately useless.