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<br />8 <br /> <br />ADDITIONAL RESEARCH REQUIRED <br /> <br />There has so far not b~en a single biological field study completed <br />and reported in the literature specifically designed to identify any aspect <br />of the ecological effects of weather modification. A recommendation for <br />additional res-eili:''Ch is thus. more than an automatic response. Research is <br />needed i~ four specific categories: (a) large scale multidisciplinary in- <br />vestigations of ecosystem properties, to determine how ecosystems react <br />to environmental stress, including the stress of weather modification; <br />(b) research to develop effective procedures for monitoring the effects <br />of environmental change, including'weather modification; (c) relatively <br />short term field and laboratory investigations to answer specific questions <br />raised by the prospect of successful weather modification; (d) development <br />of mathematical models of ecosystem behavi.or that will aid in predicting <br />ecological effects of weather modification in advance of an operational <br />program (123). <br /> <br />~. <br /> <br />Suppozat of EcoZogicaZ Reseazach <br /> <br />Agencies supporting research and development in the technology of <br />weather modification have an obligation to support research to determine <br />what the social and biological consequences will be if the technology <br />they -are sponsoring is perfected. In some cases at least they lack <br />legal authority to do so. Congress and the Bureau of the Budget should <br />insist that agencies sponsoring research in the physical science aspects <br />of weather modification allocate funds to social and biologicalinves- <br />tigations related to weather modification. <br /> <br />The bureau of Reclamation, ESSA, and other agencies supporting <br />research and development in the physical science aspects of weather <br />modification should allocate a fraction of these research funds, on <br />the order of 2%, to general support of research on ecosystem processes <br />related to environmental change. The recommendation of some fraction <br />of physical science research funds, rather than a fixed dollar amount <br />based on identified needs, is not satisfactory, but it isdifficuit to <br />see an alternative. Funding agencies are accustomed to allocating money <br />for specific projects after weighing the value of the information against <br />the cost of obtaining it, and then providing enough money to carry out <br />the project. This is an appropriate pattern for some categories of <br />weather modification research, but it is not applicable to multidisciplinary, <br />multi-objective research on ecosystem processes, the results of which <br />will be applicable to a wide range of environmental problems (125). <br /> <br />E:r:pel'imentaZ and ObservationaZ Investigations <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Experiments involving application of artif~cial rain to specific <br />ecosystems should be undertaken at an early date. These experiments <br />could logically be undertaken in connection with the grassland research <br />program of International Biological Program in eastern Colorado (126). <br /> <br />"< <br />