Cloud seeding has been something that has been considered a practical technology for several years, yet the results still tend to be unpredictable at times. The basic concept almost seems like it would be something out of a good science fiction novel. By seeding clouds, rain can form and this can help to alleviate drought conditions. This artificially helps to create rain. There are some definite advantages and disadvantages to this process, so let’s take a look at the pros and cons of cloud seeding.
What Are the Pros of Cloud Seeding?
1. It would boost a region’s overall precipitation.
The practice of cloud seeding introduces particles that will actually retain water for the cloud. This facilitates the transition of water vapor into liquid water. Over time, this creates the conditions that are necessary for a rainfall event to occur. In essence, it makes the system of planetary precipitation more efficient.
2. It would provide relief to areas stricken with drought.
When drought is affecting a region, rain becomes a rare event. Prolonged drought can create water scarcity issues that can ultimately affect the way of life of the local population base. By cloud seeding, countries that are facing severe drought conditions could potentially relieve their problems so that water scarcity is no longer an issue.
3. It could be used to regulate the weather.
Many of the best areas of crop growing around the world face severe weather every year and this inevitably damages some of the crops. Through cloud seeding, the water vapor in the air would be more regulated and this would prevent the damaging hail and severity of certain storms that occur.
What Are the Cons of Cloud Seeding?
1. It may affect the weather in a negative way.
Cloud seeding will ultimately change weather patterns that exist on our planet. This means that areas which would normally receive moisture may begin to experience drought conditions because of the artificial process of adding compounds to the atmosphere to encourage rain.
2. It could damage the environment.
The primary component of cloud seeding is a compound called silver iodide. The compound structure of silver iodide is very similar to ice. The United Nations Environment Program has seen that the chemical compounds in rainfall from cloud seeding can have detrimental and damaging effects to the environment when the chemical is introduced to the ground.
3. It could affect human health.
When the human body is exposed iodide, it creates health problems and may even turn a person can to a blue color. Even if discoloration does not occur, headaches, rashes, and anemia are common side effects when people are exposed iodides.
Cloud seeding has a lot of potential, but the technology needs to improve before we can make it a reality. By evaluating the pros and cons of this procedure now, we can all evaluate where the improvements need to be made so that cloud seeding can help prevent future drought conditions.
Crystal Lombardo is a contributing editor for Vision Launch. Crystal is a seasoned writer and researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has been an editor of three popular blogs that each have had over 500,000 monthly readers.
