{"id":12186,"date":"2021-07-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/23-07-2021\/cloud-seeding\/"},"modified":"2021-07-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T00:00:00","slug":"cloud-seeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-07-2021\/cloud-seeding","title":{"rendered":"Cloud Seeding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>In News\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Recently, the United Arab Emirates&#8217;s (UAE) National Center of Meteorology opted to go for cloud seeding to beat the extreme weather conditions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>About<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">UAE has employed the technology of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>using drones to generate rainfall<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In India as well, Cloud seeding has earlier been attempted in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to address drought.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Similar experiments of cloud seeding had earlier been tried in Australia, America, Spain and France.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">In the United Arab Emirates, the cloud seeding technique led to the creation of 52 storms in Abu Dhabi.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Cloud Seeding (Weather Modification)<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Cloud seeding is a kind of weather modification technology to create artificial rainfall. It works only when there are enough pre-existing clouds in the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Drones are charged into the clouds and cause an electric shock due to which they clump together and cause rainfall.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/LN9ackMZw8SUX5ua1B8RRDOvcgCDH6CRGRTArzfYm5yQJfK9mYN4GMQSpEI5QRfk_JpWcwmS0dFw6GwuFaXs4w6_DBu0720t6p157xPqqFe0gaMEZPyapXq_AaA-JKHH4RmpFEKJ\" style=\"height:225px; width:400px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Image Courtesy: <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news.com.au\/travel\/destinations\/middle-east\/dubai-makes-fake-rain-to-cope-with-heatwave\/news-story\/da94d90451338bb1712934ea6b0f2fcc\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>News.com<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Otherwise, in this process either <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>silver iodide, potassium iodide or dry ice (solid carbon dioxide)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> is dumped onto the clouds causing rainfall. The seeds of chemicals can be delivered by plane or simply by spraying from the ground.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Cloud-seeding chemicals<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> can be dispersed in clouds either by <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>fly-through aircraft or by ground-based dispersion devices<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> that use rockets or guns to fire canisters into the sky.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-kbYNa6o7pj2ObkVtJT4av_6eruucRfvP_4XT_0tl6rtMuoPK12YMndDy--1cm5bGBrOAly-uWOsSiz-O_ScPZ9qkfZ8eIbUcpJ-P8xIxAWpRMBro5muR8X9CIznJtPEdSjeaNiO\" style=\"height:270px; width:467px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Image Courtesy: <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/snowbrains.com\/cloud-seeding-make-difference\/\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>Snowbrains<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Applications of Cloud Seeding<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Creation of Rain: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Cloud seeding is the best way to consider i<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>mproving rainfall quantity in case of <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">inadequate rainfall<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong> <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">. Arid areas usually have conditions that may be <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>harsh in terms of food security<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> and a conducive environment for living.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Cloud seeding <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>can bring rain, <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">which makes the natural environment flourish and becomes more habitable.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Boosting of the Economy: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Agricultural production is important to the local economies of many regions around the world. R<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>ain is important in achieving a proper harvest.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Weather Regulation: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Cloud seeding provides an <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>avenue for controlling prevailing weather conditions<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> in different areas.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Geographically oriented: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Cloud seeding is primarily done to create <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>certain conditions in specific areas, also termed as microclimates.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> Places like airports, for instance, often use cloud seeding to create a stable condition for their runway. This is to ensure that planes are not restricted from taking off or landing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong><u>Concerns<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Requires the use of Potentially Harmful Chemicals: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Some chemicals are <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>potentially harmful<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> to the natural environment. Mostly, this applies to the plants which depend on the contaminated rain to produce food.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>It is expensive: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Cloud seeding is a <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>very expensive process<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">. Planes are used to get the chemicals into the air and this is a big obstacle as some of the areas in need of this technology do not have enough financial backing to facilitate the process.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Poses Weather Problems: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Cloud seeding could have many dire consequences to the environment if not well regulated.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Dry areas are not usually well-positioned to handle certain weather conditions, and thus, may become easily flooded and cause more harm to the already struggling environment.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:disc\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>Dependence on atmospheric conditions: <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">For cloud seeding to be successful, certain uncontrollable conditions have to be met. for example<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Clouds have to be present, not just any cloud but clouds <\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>capable of producing rain<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:circle\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0The atmospheric conditions must also suit the process as certain conditions could lead to an u<\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"><strong>nwarranted result like the rain falling<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\"> in a different location or not falling at all.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">Source: <\/span><\/span><\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/dubai-uae-government-creating-rain-drones-cloud-seeding\/#:~:text=Scientists%20in%20the%20United%20Arab,well%20as%20several%20other%20regions.\" style=\"text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\"><u>CBS News<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:'Book Antiqua',serif\"><span style=\"color:#000000\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News\u00a0 Recently, the United Arab Emirates&#8217;s (UAE) National Center of Meteorology opted to go for cloud seeding to beat the extreme weather conditions. About UAE has employed the technology of using drones to generate rainfall.\u00a0 In India as well, Cloud seeding has earlier been attempted in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to address drought.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[26,33],"class_list":["post-12186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-gs-3","tag-science-technology"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4050420Current-Affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}