Scientists are zapping clouds with electricity to make rain | CNN (2024)

FAQs

Which country has artificial rain? ›

Cloud seeding is also referred to as man made precipitation and artificial rain making. The United Arab Emirates is one of the first countries in the Arabian Gulf region to use cloud seeding technology.

With cloud seeding, small particles of silver iodide, a salt with a crystalline structure similar to that of ice, are added to clouds. This process can be performed either from a plane or drone, or particles can be shot up from the ground.

As soon as likely cloud formations appear, we go out there. We seed whenever we get the chance.” During an average four-hour operation, up to 24 clouds can be seeded at a cost of around $5,000.

The unmanned drones sent pulses of electricity into the clouds to make the water droplets merge and stick together, "like dry hair to a comb," according to Maarten Ambaum, who worked on the project.

While we don't know specifically if cloud seeding poses a threat, some experts believe that it could lead to silver toxicity and environmental concerns if the practice becomes common on a much larger scale. Similarly, people worry that cloud seeding could throw off earth's natural balance of moisture.

The climate of Dubai is warm and sunny due to its position near the line of the Tropic of Cancer.

Cloud seeding is also referred to as man made precipitation and artificial rain making. The United Arab Emirates is one of the first countries in the Arabian Gulf region to use cloud seeding technology.

Modern-day cloud seeding was launched in the lab of noted surface scientist Irving Langmuir at General Electric in 1946. His colleagues Vincent Schaefer and Bernard Vonnegut, brother of author Kurt, discovered that silver iodide could transform supercooled water vapor into ice crystals at temperatures of –10 to –5 °C.

There had to be a solid barrier above the sky which kept the water from falling. So how did it rain? It rained through small openings in the barrier. This construction is described very explicitly in Genesis 1:6-7 as being God's major effort on the second day of creation.

Most cloud seeding operations, including those run by DRI, use a compound called silver iodide (AgI) to aid in the formation of ice crystals. Silver iodide exists naturally in the environment at low concentrations, and is not known to be harmful to humans or wildlife.

Is silver iodide harmful? ›

"silver iodide is toxic and must be handled with care."

Blue skies

In Dubai, the sky has a yellowish, sandy color on most days. With all the dust, sand and humidity blowing up in the air every morning, sometimes it is hard to remember that the actual color of the sky should be blue.

Its economy is vibrant and diverse and generates revenue in various ways. It includes manufacturing, providing services, and tourism. So, unlike its neighbors, whose economies rely on oil, Dubai has a diversified economic base resting on finance, trade, transportation, tourism, oil, and technology industries.

The city relies primarily on desalinated seawater for the water supply. There are two central desalination plants in Dubai — one in Jebel Ali and the other in Al Kaffah. These two plants account for 80 percent of the city's water needs. Dubai has turned into a global business hub in the past century.

Certain areas in India like in rural Maharashtra, rain clouds moves away due to winds and other atmospheric disturbances. Hence, the process of cloud seeding wont work. Would making it rain in California artificially be bad or good for the environment over all?

Artificial rain works via a process called cloud seeding, during which chemicals are injected into the Earth's atmosphere to mimic the composition of clouds. This then leads to precipitation in the form of rain or snow, thus cleansing the air and ridding it of excessive levels of contamination.

A long-term and well-designed cloud seeding program can potentially soften the impact of drought, however, since increased precipitation before and after drought would temper the reduction of rainfall during the drought period. Cloud seeding should be utilized as a long-term water resource management tool.

Dubai rarely experiences snowfall as temperatures never drop into single-digit figures, even in the coldest of winter months. However, Ras Al Khaimah, a city near Dubai, sometimes experiences snow in mid-January.

April to October : The temperatures begin to rise by April and May and during peak summers, even start hitting the late forties. Summer months in Dubai are really, really hot and humid, making it almost impossible to explore the outdoors.

What is the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth? The highest temperature on record belongs to California's Death Valley which, in 1913, reached a temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit, or 56.7 degrees Celsius, Al Jazeera reports.

What chemical is used to make rain? ›

It's called silver iodide, and it mimics the structure of a natural ice crystal, so it's the perfect particle to attract water molecules and jumpstart precipitation. In fact, most cloud seeding operations today still use silver iodide.

The researchers report that in ideal conditions, seeding increased winter precipitation by 5 to 15 percent. A cloud seeding program in the region could cost $27 to $214 per acre-foot of water in a low cost scenario and $53 to $427 per acre-foot in a high-cost scenario.

Cloud seeding is usually carried out by sprinkling particles from a plane. Using weather forecasting techniques, suitable clouds are identified based on the location of the target area and the prevailing winds. Given the appropriate conditions, cloud seeding can modify clouds and induce rain.

Cloud seeding as we know it today got its start in 1946 when Dr. Vincent J. Schaefer, working at the General Electric Laboratory in New York, was involved with research to create artificial clouds in a chilled chamber.

In 1946, Schaefer conducted the first true cloud seeding experiment by aircraft. He dropped 6 pounds of crushed dry ice into a cloud in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Almost immediately, snow began to fall.

Lightning as poetic expressions of God's presence and power.

In addition to literal events, lightning is also used in the Bible to poetically symbolize God's swift power, mighty presence, and sovereign will over all His creation. He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.

But what if it rained non-stop for 40 days? Well, 15 July is St Swithin's Day. It takes place each year, and according to traditional folklore, whatever the weather is like on St Swithin's Day - whether rain or sunshine - it will continue for the next 40 days and 40 nights.

A new method of seeding convective clouds for the purpose of augmenting rainfall is being developed in South Africa. Flares that produce small salt particles (0.5-μm mean diameter) are attached to the trailing edge of the wings of seeding aircraft and ignited in updrafts below the cloud base of convective storms.

Yes, it is possible to cause artificial rain by spraying silver iodide on the clouds. Clouds are colloidal in nature and carry charge. Spray of silver iodide, an electrolyte, results in coagulation leading to rain.

Chronic: Chronic inhalation or ingestion of silver salts may cause argyria characterized by a permanent blue-gray discoloration of the eyes, skin, mucous membranes, and internal organs. This malady results from the accumulation of silver in the body.

What does silver iodide smell like? ›

Toxicity: Carcinogen status - none insoluble silver salts are considered non-irritating and relatively non-toxic.

"Even when you do have a cloud to seed, the cloud contains all this ash; very, very tiny particles, so it's hard to put enough material into the cloud to get them turned around to get them large enough to form drops to get them on the ground," said Woodley. It's wind that makes wildfires the most destructive.

Think of it as the Pretty Dry Oscillation – the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. The official name means Pacific (a Pacific Ocean pattern) Decadal (it lasts more than 10 years) Oscillation (it goes back and forth). It is why California is stuck in a drought. It's as simple as hot and cold.

Cloud seeding sounds like science fiction, but it may become a useful tool to combat drought and lessen the risk of wildfires.

The breathtaking view of Dubai's skyline and the luxurious menu on board the Dinner in the Sky in Dubai costs between $ 142 – $ 199 depending on the day of the week and the meal. Dinner in the Sky is cheaper on weekdays than on weekends.

There used to be waves along the whole coast of Dubai and you could pretty much surf anywhere and you'd have different breaks. But because they built the World Islands and the Palm islands, they've pretty much blocked all the surf.

As one of the highest countries in the world, Mongolia is subjected to extreme continental weather conditions consisting of short, sweltering summers and long, frigid winters. Known by legend as the 'Land of the Blue Sky, the Mongolian sky is cloudless for more than two thirds of the year.

The average person living in the UAE has net assets of approximately US$99,000 (wealth per capita). This is well above the worldwide average. There are approximately 88,700 HNWIs living in the UAE, each with net assets of US$1 million or more.

Dubai has witnessed an influx of millionaires and billionaires in the past year, mainly owing to the successful handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, strengthening confidence among the elites around the world in the emirate's healthcare sector and the quality of life it provides to residents.

What's the average salary in Dubai? ›

The problem is that the desalination of water requires a lot of energy. Salt dissolves very easily in water, forming strong chemical bonds, and those bonds are difficult to break. Energy and the technology to desalinate water are both expensive, and this means that desalinating water can be pretty costly.

Many plumbing issues in Dubai come down to blocked toilets, with most problems being easily solved. Always remember that only bodily waste and toilet paper can be flushed down the toilet, and if you flush anything more substantial than that you will find yourself having to call a Dubai plumber sooner rather than later.

The Emirates Authority for Standardization and Authorization defines tap water in UAE be safe for human consumption as long as it complies with the UAE. S GSO 149 code. DEWA-Dubai Electricity and Water Authorities makes sure that the water is completely safe.

What is the Wettest Country on Earth? The wettest country on Earth is Colombia. Colombia has the world's highest precipitation rate, estimated at 3,240 millimeters per year (127 inches). Due to frequent and intense rainfall, several portions of the state are permanently flooded.

It is possible to cause artificial rain by throwing electrified sand or silver iodide from an aeroplane and thus, coagulation the mist hanging in air. AgI helps in artificial rain because : Q. The clouds consists of charged particles of water dispersed in air.

Vincent J. Schaefer, a self-taught chemist who invented cloud "seeding" and created the first artificially induced snow and rainfall, died on Sunday at a hospital in Schenectady, N.Y. He was 87 and lived in Rotterdam, N.Y.

The Tibetan Plateau, a rain shadow in Tibet, China, and India has the enormous Himalaya mountain range to thank for its dry climate. Death Valley faces a double-whammy of being located in the rain shadow of the Pacific Coast Range AND the Sierra Nevada.

For years, two villages have claimed the title as the wettest place on earth. Mawsynram and Cherrapunji are just 10 miles apart, but Mawsynram beats its competitor by a mere 4 inches of rainfall. Although it doesn't rain all day in Meghalaya, it does rain every day, Chapple told weather.com.

The wettest city in the world is Buenaventura, where it rains 258 days per year. Australia's rainiest city is Cairns in Queensland, with 117 days of precipitation. The UK's wettest city is Londonderry in Northern Ireland (147 days). The wettest city in the US is Hilo, Hawaii (211 days).

What is the rainiest city in the US? ›

The wettest city in the U.S. is Hilo, Hawaii, where it rains 211 days a year. Interestingly, Hilo gets between 10 and 40 times as much rain as some other parts of the Big Island. It also rains and snows a lot in Alaska. Sitka gets about 86 inches of precipitation a year over a whopping 173 days.

In fact, radioactive rain is not a new health threat or evidence of a cover-up by the nuclear industry, but rather is indicative of just how many naturally occurring radioactive particles there are in Earth's atmosphere. In particular, there is a large amount of uranium present in soil and rock, he said.

Among many disadvantages of artificial rain is the only natural limitation, requirement of clouds. Unless there are clouds to shower with precipitation boosters, the technique cannot work. For days with a clear sky, the whole process fails as the artificial method cannot act as the natural cloud.

May cause eye and skin irritation. May cause respiratory and digestive tract irritation. Light sensitive. May cause reproductive and fetal effects.

Iodine in AgI poses no environmental danger. Organic seeding agents currently being proposed are not likely to be toxic in either the short or the long run, but dispersal of proprietary organic compounds should be prohibited unless their composition is fully revealed.

A rain shadow region is the leeward side which is opposite to the windward side.

Mountains can have a significant effect on rainfall. When air reaches the mountains, it is forced to rise over this barrier. As the air moves up the windward side of a mountain, it cools, and the volume decreases. As a result, humidity increases and orographic clouds and precipitation can develop.