Help The Weather

Water shortages wouldn’t be such a big deal if we knew how to make it rain, right? Scientists are giving that method a try. Cloud-seeding programs have already begun, which send chemical-loaded rockets into clouds to encourage snow to fall.

In fact, a recent unseasonal 11-hour snow storm in Beijing was man-made in response to worries about a drought in the northern farmlands–and we’re not talking ski-hill snow machines here, this was the result of cloud-seeding. The city even boasts a Weather Modification Office and brings out their rain-producing rockets before big events to ensure they’re dry including the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony. Sound a little far-fetched?

Maybe, but China isn’t the only country messing with meteorology. Last month, the Southern Nevada Water Authority gave funding to a cloud-seeding program that runs six snow generators in the mountains of northeastern Nevada. Some say the snow created along with the snowmelt could end up providing water for Las Vegas taps since the targeted ranges feed a massive groundwater aquifer.

In 2007, a similar operation occurred in Colorado to boost snowfall near the Colorado River, which is the source of drinking water for seven states. Cloud-seeding has also been going on in the Sierra Nevada mountains to help California’s water supply since the 1950s.

Not all scientists agree that the method works. Usually silver iodide or dry ice fill the rockets. They’re supposed to create a surface ideal for water vapor to form rain, but there isn’t solid evidence to support it. But with more and more droughts occurring and climate change worries, many are willing to go out on a limb with cloud-seeding.