Weather control

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A tornado in central Oklahoma. Weather control researchers aspire to eliminate or control dangerous types of weather such as this.
A tornado in central Oklahoma. Weather control researchers aspire to eliminate or control dangerous types of weather such as this.

Weather control is the act of manipulating or altering certain aspects of the environment to produce desirable changes in weather.

Contents

[edit] Feasibility

Most weather phenomena are fed by massive amounts of solar energy (collected by the earth's surface and atmosphere) and take place in very large volumes of air. Direct manipulation of the weather by humans is in most cases not feasible, simply due to the huge amount of energy that would be required. It is generally quite feasible to control "weather" on much smaller scales. Indoor systems that modify temperature, humidity, and particulate counts are known as climate control.

Some human activities are known to have an effect on the weather outdoors, because they cause physical changes to wide areas, changing the shape of natural flows of energy and material. For example, global economic activity producing carbon dioxide and other gases has been found to contribute to global warming. Unsustainable farming techniques contribute to desertification in many areas around the world, and historical events such as the Dust Bowl in the United States. Deforestation can also affect the local water cycle.

The release of large amounts of soot or dust particles into the atmosphere causes cooler surface temperatures. Locally, this is believed to have occured near oil fires in Kuwait after the Gulf War, and that a catastrophic global cooling would occur due to atmospheric pollution after a major nuclear war - see nuclear winter.

It is also sometimes possible to influence weather-related events where only a slight change is needed to change the outcome. For example, citrus farmers often try to prevent frost damage to their crops by packing them in insulating plant material, by spraying them with water, or by using a Selective Inverted Sink. Only a small difference in surface temperature is needed to prevent frost, if the feared cold snap is relatively mild.

[edit] History of weather control

Some American Indians had rituals which they believed could induce rain. The Finnish people, on the other hand, were believed by others to be able to control weather. As a result, Vikings refused to take Finns on their oceangoing raids. Remnants of this superstition lasted into the twentieth century, with some ship crews being reluctant to accept Finnish sailors.

The early modern era saw people observe that during battles the firing of cannons and other firearms often initiated precipitation. Perhaps the first example of practical weather control is the lightning rod.

In the 1950's, computer scientist John von Neumann, an early theorizer on weather control, surmised that if Earth were to enter another Ice Age, a preventative solution would be to dump dirt (or spray soot from cropdusting planes) on the surface of the planet's glaciers. He noted that this would significantly change their reflectivity (albedo), and thus increase the solar energy retained by the planet. Such a strategy would require repeated applications, as storms would cover some portion of the soot with new snow until their frequency and range abated. The theoretical efficacy of von Neumann's proposal remains to be examined.

Wilhelm Reich performed cloudbusting experiments in the 1950s to 1960s, the results of which are controversial.

[edit] Cloud seeding for rain

Cloud seeding is a common technique intended to trigger rain, but evidence on its effectiveness is mixed. Critics generally contend that claimed successes occur in conditions which were going to rain anyway.

It is used in several different countries, including the United States, the People's Republic of China, and Russia. In the People's Republic of China there is actually a perceived dependency upon it in dry regions, which believe they are actually increasing annual rainfall by firing silver iodide rockets into the sky where rain is desired.

In the United States, dry ice or silver iodide may be injected into a cloud by aircraft, or even from the ground, in an attempt to increase rainfall; there are even companies dedicated to this form of weather modification.

[edit] Storm prevention

Project Stormfury was an attempt to weaken tropical cyclones by flying aircraft into storms and seeding the eyewall with silver iodide. The project was run by the United States Government from 1962 to 1983.

Hail cannons are used by some farmers in an attempt to ward off hail, but there is no reliable scientific evidence to confirm or deny their effectiveness.

The Florida company Dyn-O-Mat proposes the use of a product it has developed, called Dyn-O-Gel, to reduce the strength of hurricanes. The substance is a powder which reportedly has the ability to absorb 1,500 times its own weight in water. The theory is that it is dropped into clouds to remove their moisture. When the gel reaches the ocean surface, it is reportedly dissolved. The company has tested the substance on a thunderstorm, but there has not been any scientific consensus established as to its effectiveness. [1]

[edit] Ionospheric experiments

HIPAS has several diverse experimental facilities: a 1-megawatt rf transmitter to produce ELF/VLF (Extremely Low Frequency and Very Low Frequency) electromagnetic (EM) generation by the absorption of radio frequency (rf) power in the arctic ionosphere including ion cyclotron excitation; a 100 kW rf plasma torch used in research on the destruction of hazardous waste; a 2.7 m liquid mirror telescope used with one of several lasers for ionospheric stimulation and measurement; an Incoherent Scatter Radar (a new project using 88 ft. diameter antenna at NOAA Gilmore Creek site 34 km SW of HIPAS as the receiving antenna with the transmitter at HIPAS). HIPAS is in the process of adding a very high power (terawatt) laser (recently obtained from LLNL) to perform laser breakdown experiments in the ionosphere. Two Diesel electric generators (1500 HP 4160 V, 3-phase, 1.2 MVA each) are used to power the experiments. There are a number of computers (PC's ) on site, and a high-speed data line to UAF is available.

While these experiments are useful in measuring the properties of the ionosphere, they produce insufficient amounts of energy to modify it in any significant way.

[edit] Weather control and law

Weather control, as well as "weather tampering", are expressly forbidden dating from at least December 10, 1976, when the "United Nations General Assembly Resolution 31/72, TIAS 9614 Convention (http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/enmod/text/environ2.htm) on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques" was adopted. rewrewrewrwerwerwerwer

The Convention was: Signed in Geneva May 18, 1977; Entered into force October 5, 1978; Ratification by U.S. President December 13, 1979; U.S. ratification deposited at New York January 17, 1980.

U.S. Senate Bill 517 [2] and U.S. House Bill 2995 [3] were two laws proposed in 2005 that would have allowed experimental weather modification by artificial methods, established a Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, and implemented a national weather modification policy. Neither ever became law.

[edit] Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theorists have suggested that certain governments use or seek to use weather control as a weapon (eg via HAARP and/or chemtrails), but such allegations have not been proven. At a counterterrorism conference in 1997, United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen referred to the writings of futurist Alvin Toffler, specifically regarding concerns about "eco-terrorism" and intentionally caused natural disasters.[1]

[edit] Future aspirations

Climatologist Ross Hoffman has simulated hurricane control based on selective heating and cooling (or prevention of evaporation).[4]

Futurist John Smart has discussed the potential for weather control via space-based solar power networks. One proposal involves the gentle heating via microwave of portions of large hurricanes. Such chaotic systems may be susceptible to "side steering" with a few degrees of increased temperature/pressure at critical points. A sufficient network might keep the largest and most potentially damaging hurricanes from landfall, at the request of host nations. Blizzards, monsoons, and other extreme weather are also potential candidates for space-based amelioration.[citations needed]

If large-scale weather control were to become feasible, potential risks include:

  • Unintended side effects, especially given the chaotic nature of weather development
  • Damage to existing ecosystems
  • Health risks to humans
  • Equipment malfunction or accidents
  • Non-democratic control or use as a weapon

[edit] In fiction

In fiction, weather control technology can be encountered in the realms of science fiction and fantasy. The concept of weather control is often portrayed as a part of terraforming.

[edit] Film and television

[edit] Star Trek

  • In the fictional Star Trek universe, most advanced planets and colonies utilise weather control, often referred to as weather modification grids or weather modification nets. A small, but long-established TNG-era (ca 2369) colony was a weather control facility for approximately a hundred years. Most advanced civilizations apparently employ weather control standard equipment.
  • Weather control technology in 2270s required special facilities, modern TNG- and DS9-era technology consists of multiple mid-size devices positioned strategically, networked and controlled from more-or-less arbitrary places.
  • For example, the fictional planet Risa has its climate controlled to be a tropical paradise. Perhaps one of the few modern (DS9-era) planets apparently without weather control technology is Ferenginar, with nearly continuous rain.[citations needed]

[edit] Other films or shows

[edit] Computer games

  • In Master Of Orion, it is possible to build a weather control building to change the planet's environment.
  • In Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, the Allies can build the weather controller device superweapon, and direct thunderstorms to strike a selected location of the map every 10 game minutes.
  • In Phantasy Star II, a weather, irrigation and dam control system known as Climatrol has been constructed by Mother Brain to make the barren planet Motavia habitable for Palman occupation.
  • In the forthcoming game Spore by Will Wright, players will be able to use a spacecraft to modify planetary atmospheres - creating volcanoes to generate carbon dioxide, seeding plant life to create breathable air, or even using a "Genesis device" to make a planet habitable in one go.
  • There is a weather control device in Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge.

[edit] Prose

  • Ben Bova's "The Weathermakers" is the story of a government agency that controls the weather.
  • Sydney Sheldon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark" is the story of a think tank that builds technology powerful enough to create hurricanes, tornados, and tsunamis.
  • In Michael Crichton's "State of Fear," ecoterrorists plan to create a tsunami, calve an iceberg, and induce flash flooding and hurricanes.
  • In Lois Lowry's "The Giver," the government controls the weather and keeps it from snowing, and confine rain to the farmland.
  • In the book series Weather Warden by Rachel Caine, the Wardens are an association of people who control the elements - earth, fire and weather. They manipulate the weather to stop hurricanes and tornados destroying the world. The weather is manipulated throughout all 4 books, based in the United States, and a massive hurricane flattens Florida in the latest book.
  • In Roger Zelazny's The Chronicles of Amber an openly known quality of the Jewel of Judgment is the ability to control the local weather.
  • In Frank Herbert's Dune series, weather control is widespread, and is achieved with specialized satellites in orbit around a planet.

[edit] Music

[edit] Other fictional weather controllers

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Anti-hurricane invention worth pursuing. Murdock, Deroy. Scripps Howard News Service. 22 Oct 2005.
  2. ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-517
  3. ^ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h109-2995
  4. ^ Hoffman, R, "Controlling Hurricanes," Scientific American, Oct 2004.

[edit] External links

  • Article Montana restricts spraying to a window of months and requires materials and employee lists
  • US Navy Some work is done by The United States Navy using ELF: Simulations of ELF radiation generated by heating the high-latitude D- region. (This work is supported by the Office of Naval Research and, in part, by a grant of HPC time from the DoD High Performance Computing Center at the Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground)
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