What is
an Artificial Rain?
It’s a practice of artificially inducing or increasing precipitation through
clouds by adding external agents.
The foreign particles which are drenched over these clouds can be Dry Ice(solid
carbon dioxide), Silver Iodide, Salt powder etc. This process is known as Cloud
Seeding. This stimulation is done by aeroplanes or rockets. And then finally
“rain on”.
How it is done
Agitation
: The first stage includes the use of chemicals to stimulate the air mass
upwind of target area to rise and form clouds. These chemicals absorbs the
water vapour and helps in the process of condensation. Chemicals like – Calcium
Oxide, compound of Urea and Ammonium Nitrate or Chloride Calcium Carbonate.
Building
Up Stage : In the second stage the mass of the cloud is build up by
urea, dry ice, kitchen salt etc to increase the density of the clouds.
Seeding
: In the final stage of pursuing the artificial rain, super cool chemicals (dry
ice or iodide) are bombarded with the pressurized canister onto the base of the
clouds to build the beads of water and make them fall as rain.
Advantages of cloud seeding
artificial rain has been applied to many agricultural areas around the world where rain is scarce and badly needed. It is a time-tested way of keeping farmlands to produce crops where an abundant harvest is otherwise difficult or impossible to achieve.
1. CreatSeeding
Where rain is badly needed, cloud seeding is perhaps the only way to produce
rain. People use silver iodine to induce rain production in areas where there
is barely any precipitation. Rain is important for keeping the area hydrated
and fertile for growing crops and other plants.
2. Boosts Economy
Where there is rain, there is farm produce. Farms that yield better can help
the local economy and feed the people (and even animals). Cloud seeding can
greatly improve the living conditions in dry, arid places.
3. Regulates Weather
Cloud seeding in a way, gives us the ability to control the weather condition
in a particular area. It does not just make rain, it also regulates water vapor
that in turn prevent damages brought by destructive hails and storms.
4. Makes Dry Places More Livable
Local people have an impressive way of adapting to their natural environment.
But inhospitable places rarely visited by rain can be inhospitable to tourists
and foreigners. Cloud seeding can make such places livable.
Disadvantages of cloud seeding
1. Requires Potentially Harmful Chemicals
Chemicals used in cloud seeding can
potentially damage the environment, especially the plants cloud seeding is
intended to protect. There is no substantial study done on the implications of
silver iodine to the environment, so there remains the mystery. Silver iodine
may cause “iodism,” a type of iodine poisoning where the patient exhibits
running nose, headache, skin rash, anemia, and diarrhea, among others.
2. Is Not Foolproof
Cloud seeding requires rainclouds. It cannot work on just any other cloud
formations. Also, seeded clouds may actually travel to another location and do
not cause precipitation on the intended location. Therefore, it can be argued
whether or not cloud seeding is truly effective in producing rain.
3. Costs a Lot
It is very expensive to produce artificial rain. The chemicals have to be
delivered to the air via planes, which are hard to come by in places with very
minimal income. Poverty-stricken areas suffering drought or famine may need
external funding to have cloud seeding.
4. Poses Weather Problems
If not regulated or controlled properly, cloud seeding may cause undesirable if
not altogether destructive weather conditions such as flooding, storms, hail
risks, etc. Places that naturally do not get much rain or no rain at all
usually do not have the infrastructure to handle so much precipitation. With
cloud seeding, these areas may become flooded quickly, causing more harm than
good.
REIKA 