Weather Seeding

Weather modification includes techniques for altering weather conditions.

Weather modification, commonly known as cloud seeding, is a technique aimed at changing weather patterns to increase precipitation, inhibit hail, or dissolve fog. This method is one of the most widely used and extensively researched forms of intentional weather modification.

The principle of weather modification involves introducing substances, also referred to as seeding agents, into clouds to encourage precipitation formation. Commonly used seeding agents include silver iodide, potassium iodide, dry ice, and hygroscopic salts such as table salt in warm clouds. In cold clouds, silver iodide acts as an ice or crystallization nucleus to cause supercooled water droplets to freeze and grow, ultimately resulting in the fall of snowflakes or raindrops.

Weather modification is employed to enhance precipitation in drought-affected areas, reduce hail damage to agricultural products, and diminish fog to improve visibility conditions at airports. The effectiveness of these methods is contentious, with some scientific studies reporting significant increases in precipitation, while others find minor or statistically insignificant effects. Ongoing research projects in various regions combine modern modeling and observations to optimize the efficiency of cloud seeding.

However, weather modification is also the focus of environmental and health concerns. The use of silver iodide can be potentially toxic, and improper application could disrupt local and regional precipitation patterns, posing certain ecological risks. Given the ethical, legal, and political issues associated with the controversial redistribution of rainfall, weather modification continues to be actively discussed and researched while being stringently regulated to prevent abuse.