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<br />Precipitation enhancement can also be used for direct application of <br />additional precipitation on crop land and rangeland. Direct application <br />eliminates the need for systems to get the water where it is needed, though <br />reliable techniques for augmenting precipitation when it is needed have not <br />been developed. <br /> <br />Table II-l--Estimated Annual Weather-Caused Losses in the United States and <br />Percent of Annual Gross Revenue1 <br /> <br />Actin ty <br /> <br />Losses <br />(ml1lions-1972 dollars) <br /> <br />Percent of that sector's <br />gross revenue <br /> <br />Total <br /> <br />8,240 15.5 <br />92 1.1 <br />998 1.0 <br />598 0.2 <br />96 0.3 <br />77 0.3 <br />46 0.2 <br />5 0.1 <br />2,532 2.0 <br />12,684 <br /> <br />Agriculture <br /> <br />Commercial aviation <br /> <br />Construction <br /> <br />Manufacturing <br /> <br />Transportation (rall, <br />highway, water) <br /> <br />Communica tions <br /> <br />Electric power <br /> <br />Energy fossil fuel <br /> <br />Other (general public, <br />government, etc.) <br /> <br />t10st of the Nation's key crops could benefit substantially from small <br />modifications of the weather that would (1) augment precipitation at critical <br />times, (2) reduce damage caused by hail and high winds, and (3) modify <br />temperatures. Table II-2 shows the average percentage change in yield for <br />corn, wheat, soybeans, and range forage that wou11 result from a lO-percent <br />increase in precipitation during July and August. This table shows that <br /> <br />3National Research Council, '.Climate and Food: Climate Fluctuation and U.S. <br />Agricultural Production," Committee on Climate and Weather Fluctuations and <br />Agricultural Production, Board on Agriculture and Renewable Resources, <br />Commission on Natural Resources, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, <br />D.C., 212 pp., 1976. <br /> <br />- 8 - <br />