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I wonder if large-scale cloud seeding could have the effect of taking rain from places that would otherwise get it?
by JR1427 3y ago
I wonder if large-scale cloud seeding could have the effect of taking rain from places that would otherwise get it?
- kibwen 3y agoIt would have to, unless you also consciously increase the rate of evaporation at the same time. Could be bad news for countries with arid neighbors to their direct west.
- s_dev 3y agoSounds a bit like the dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt over Nile Water (Ethiopia is building a dam) so definitely plenty of political precedent for conflict over water resources and this will exacerbate this.
- gorpy7 3y agoI don’t think it can be assumed. if the rain increased vegetation, i wouldn’t rule out an increased water cycle and greater amount of water in the area in general. Honestly, i wouldn’t be surprised if it benefited neighbors. I’m no expert and there are countless variables, maybe a high percentage of the rain used then sent right into the ground as waste water- never to have the chance to evaporate. or never taken up by vegetation at all. Time reveals all, despite whether this was a hasty experiment.
- kibwen 3y agoTrue, while it will certainly remove moisture from the air that would necessarily have fallen elsewhere, it's difficult to say whether or not it would cause measurable decreases in rainfall in places that would notice it. For example, we know that reforestation actually increases precipitation downwind, as trees draw water out of the Earth, which then evaporates out of their leaves. However, a nation that's seeding clouds isn't going to be doing it because they're trying to create rainforests, they'll be doing it because they want agriculture and clean drinking water, and it's unclear whether or not that can possibly give more than it takes from downwind neighbors.
- justrealist 3y agoPossible but a lot of rain just falls in the middle of the ocean, so not a great loss.
- barbazoo 3y agoIf that moisture they're making fall out of the sky is guaranteed to end up falling above the ocean otherwise then sure. Otherwise you'll get conflict.
- globular-toast 3y agoWhich will now wash a load of filth from the land into the ocean instead.
- whalesalad 3y agothe moisture has to come from somewhere, nothin is free