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Ever since humans have suffered at the hands of storms, they have dreamed of controlling the weather. The United States, like all great empires lost to hubris, has long sought to manipulate heaven to its own ends. A new Federal report revealed America sucks.
The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a non-partisan watchdog group that investigates the US government. It’s strictly focused on “cloud seeding,” the practice of adding silver iodide crystals to clouds to make them burst and give up that sweet sweet rain. As drought hits western states on a routine basis, many local governments are attempting to use cloud seeding to bring rain.
It doesn’t work well. The GAO concedes that there is some validity to cloud seeding, but that it is nearly impossible to measure its effectiveness. “Cloud seeding can increase water availability and result in economic, environmental and human health benefits. In the studies GAO reviewed, estimates of additional precipitation ranged from 0 to 20 percent,” said the report. “However, it is difficult to assess the effects of cloud seeding due to limitations of effectiveness research.”
The idea of seeding clouds with something to make them rain began in the late 19th century, but was not studied and perfected until after World War II. “Scientists demonstrated the basis of cloud seeding in the 1940s when they observed in the laboratory that water present in clouds could be artificially induced to create ice crystals using dry ice crystals or silver iodide “, the GAO said in its report. “Extensive federal funding for research and development, including field experimentation, followed this discovery. For example, in fiscal year 1978, total federal funding for climate modification was approximately $68 million, in 2024 dollars.
Scientists could never prove that it worked. Or, if it did, how effective the seed was. In the 1980s, the federal government cut off cloud funding. These days, most cloud seed schemes are local businesses. According to the GAO, nine states (California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming) are seeding the clouds.
The methods and specifics of seeding are very different between countries and even states. It can be done by an airplane flying over or through a cloud system, or by a large cannon on the ground that pumps particles into the air. It is often made with silver iodide, but sodium chloride, dry ice, liquid propane and other salts are also used.
The GAO report is a list of technology limitations. Utah alone is dumping $12 million a year to seed the clouds without much to see. It is difficult to estimate how much rain would have occurred without clouds, so there is no good way to create a control group for each study. It is also difficult to know how much the seed has affected the rainfall in a specific area. Many previous studies of seed-based precipitation showed results that were not statistically significant.
“While one study found an average increase in precipitation of 3 percent in 118 randomized cases, this effect was not statistically distinguishable from zero,” the GAO said. “One study reported an average increase in precipitation of 3 percent between 1977 and 2018 in nine cases, but the statistical results could not conclusively determine an effect from cloud seeding in seven of the cases.”
The GAO also noted that no one knows what pumping silver iodide crystals and other particulates into the clouds to generate rain does to the flora and fauna on the ground. More water in dry areas is generally better. But changing water levels in delicate and complicated ecosystems can have unforeseen consequences. “One stakeholder stated that it is not clear whether cloud seeding could improve fish results due to higher water levels and lower water temperatures, and it is not certain how the Increased soil moisture from cloud seeding could translate into healthier, less dry forests with reduced susceptibility to fires.”
Silver iodide appears to be non-toxic in small doses, but the science is far from settled. “Silver iodide is almost insoluble in water,” the report said. “However, when it dissolves, it releases a small number of silver ions. In sufficiently high amounts, silver ions – a known antimicrobial substance – could have harmful effects on beneficial bacteria in the environment and resources d ‘water’.
The GAO also named another problem with cloud seeding programs: conspiracy theories. Government climate control has long been a feature of conspiracy theories. It is a popular theme for Alex Jones and gained prominence this year after Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene spilled the beans on Hurricane Helena.
This has led some lawmakers to view cloud seeding as a threat. Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill in April that banned all forms of cloud seeding in the state. In interviews with the media, Tennessee lawmakers said they had taken action prevents chemtrails in the skies Banning cloud seeding will do nothing to prevent chemtrails, which are just plumes of condensation and aircraft exhaust left in their wake.
