WMOD00431

• Title: Ecological Effects of Weather Modification: A Problem Analysis
• Date: 5/1/1969
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

11

man-dominated ecosystems. Emphasis in ecology has traditionally be~~
on natural communities and on observational techniques. Ins ti tutionl;
having the necessary research competence are for the most part already
working to the limit of their capacity. This constraint affects the
study of all forms of environmental change, not weather modification
alone. Under present conditions, it is unlikely to be overcome excel?t
through an extensive federal training grar.t program of the type that
has been so successful in developing technical staff in medical rese.:l.rch.
There is yet no equivalent Congressional pressure for education to d4!al
with ecological problems of environmental quality.

EPILOGUE

The underlying theme of this report is the need to apply human
technology for the real long-term benefit of mankind. Those concerm~d
with developing and applying the technology of weather modification I:ould
well consider the words of Rene Dubos, expressed in his recent book
"So HlDI1an an Animal"; "In science as in other hlDl1an activities, the
speed of progress is less important than its direction. Ideally,
knowledge should serve understanding, freedom, and happiness rather than
power, regimentation, and technological development for the sake of
economic growth. Emphasis on hlDl1anistic criteria does not imply a
retreat from science; rather it points to the need for an enlargement
and a rededication of the scientific enterprise. Scientists must gi'lre
greater prominence to large human concerns when choosing their problems
and formulating their results. In addition to the science of things'-
they must create a science of hlDl1anity, if they want the intellectual
implications and practical applications of their efforts to be successfully
woven into the fabric of modem life~"

'"

9