WMOD00393

• Title: Weather Modification Glossary
• Prepared By: A. S. Dennis
• Date: 1/1/1987
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

VI. WEATHER MODIFICATION AND HUMAN SOCIETY 619

fI

and about the expected effects of weather modi-
fication programs.
Dry ice has negligible environmental impact.
Seeding agents other than dry ice and AgI are
used on a very limited scale, so for practical
purposes the question is whether or not the envi-
ronment can tolerate the AgI released into it by
weather modification programs. AgI is not a
highly toxic substance, and laboratory tests
have shown that numerous organisms thrive in
concentrations of AgI far beyond any likely to
be produced in the outdoors by cloud seeding
activities. There is a minor concern in that some
of the AgI decomposes to release silver which,
being insoluble, is not readily washed out of the
soil or streambeds. However, authorities have
called attention to the fact that the silver re-
leased into the environment from industrial
sources, notably from the photographic indus-
try, in a typical developed country exceeds by a
large factor the amount that would be released
by widespread adoption of cloud seeding.
The concerns related to the effects of cloud
seeding on weather and climate are more seri-
ous. Changes in precipitation in an area must
affect such things as erosion, turbidity in
streams, and the duration of snowpack on high
mountain ranges. A number of studies are under
way to determine the reaction of flora and fauna
to prolongation of snow cover and increases in
streamflow. The variations produced so far by
weather modification programs are so small
compared to the natural variations that no mean-
ingful studies of the artificially produced
changes have been possible. Therefore, studies
are pursued by observing the response of eco-
systems to natural weather variations. Indica-
tions to date are that no drastic changes in eco-
systems will be produced by weather
modification programs, but one should remain
alert to the possibility of minor adjustments in
terms of species composition and other factors.

C. SOCIAL FACTORS CONTROLLING ACCEPTANCE
OR REJECTION OF TECHNOLOGY

The acceptance or rejection of weather modifi-
cation technology depends on those in-
volved in the decision-making process as well as
on the objective facts or probabilities associated
with the decision. Research has been conducted
in a number of areas, for example, in connection
with the operational cloud seeding program in
South Dakota from 1972 to 1976, to determine
individual attitides toward weather modification

programs. Attempts were made to correlate
these attitudes with economic status, level of
education, and religious beliefs. The degree of
acceptance of the technology appeared to in-
crease with level of education, but no correla-
tion with religious beliefs was found.

D. REGULATION AND CONTROL

The activities of weather modification opera-
tors in Canada and the United States have been
controlled mainly by provincial and state gov-
ernments, respectively. Cloud seeding has been
banned in some states (e.g., Pennsylvania) while
other states have no regulations at all. The regu-
lations that permit seeding vary from a simple
requirement to report weather modification op-
erations to systems for licensing of weather
modification operators and issuing permits for
individual projects. In some cases the permits
are issued only after public hearings. In most
countries of the world cloud seeding activities
are sponsored by some government agency so
that arms-length regulation of the type practiced
in Canada and the United States is not possible.
In Australia weather modification activities are
reserved to the state governments, and no pri-
vate cloud seeding is permitted.

E. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

Weather modification becomes an interna-
tional issue when its effects are perceived as
likely to spread from one country to another.
The U.S. government's attempts to move Pro-
ject Stormfury to the western Pacific in the
early 1970s were stymied in part by objections
from countries in that region that might conceiv-
ably be affected by the program.
There are examples of international coopera-
tion on weather modification programs. For ex-
ample, Canada and the United States cooper-
ated on the HIPLEX (High Plains Cooperative
Program) experiments in Montana in 1979-1981.
The governments of France, Italy, and Switzer-
land joined to support Grossversuch IV, the ran-
domized test of Soviet hail suppression rockets
in Switzerland in 1977 to 1981.
On a larger scale, a number of members of the
World Meteorological Organization collabo-
rated in studies based at Valladolid, Spain, from
1978 to 1982 to determine the suitability of
clouds in that area for seeding with AgI or other
glaciogenic agents to increase rainfall. It had
been planned to mount there a randomized seed-