Cloud Seeding

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Cloud Seeding
Have you ever wondered how it may suddenly start raining or snowing and then stop almost as quick as it started? It may have more to do with chemistry and less to do with nature than you think. One major way that researchers have found out how to do this is through cloud seeding. Some people say that cloud seeding is harmful, while others say that it helps because of environmental factors like droughts. Cloud seeding has many factors involved in the process, including different chemicals and delivery methods.
According to weatherquestions.com “Cloud seeding is the process of spreading either dry ice, or more commonly, silver iodide aerosols, into the upper part of clouds to try to stimulate the precipitation process and form rain. Since most rainfall starts through the growth of ice crystals from super-cooled cloud droplets (droplets colder than the freezing point, 32 deg. F or 0 deg. C) in the upper parts of clouds, the silver iodide particles are meant to encourage the growth of new ice particles.”(What is cloud seeding?) This means that they are using chemicals to stimulate the water into falling. There are three different types of cloud seeding that scientist use. These are static cloud seeding, dynamic cloud seeding and hygroscopic cloud seeding.
The first type of cloud seeding is called static cloud seeding. This is when a chemical called Silver Iodide is shot into the cloud causing it to precipitate. According to How Stuff Works “The silver iodide provides a crystal around which moisture can condense. The moisture is already present in the clouds, but silver iodide essentially makes rain clouds more effective at dispensing their water.”(Silverman) The second type of cloud seeding used is called dynamic cl...

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...of several cloud seeding projects have indicated small percentage precipitation increases extending as far as 100 miles downwind of the intended areas of effect on projects that had indications of increases in the intended target area.” (Dennis,Brown,Long,Solak)
So in conclusion, whether the rain and snow is caused by nature or a man-made chemical compound we may never know for sure. There are many different ways that scientists and researchers go about causing the precipitation, and many more to come. Some feel that trying to play god and use chemicals to change the weather is wrong. They also feel that it is hazardous to the Earth and its inhabitants, while others look forward to the giant leaps that being able to manipulate the weather will allow. Cloud seeding is a very complex process involving many different chemical compounds and process with more to come.

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