WMOD00431

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

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These conclusions contradict the view of some proponents of
weather modification, that since Western civilization has been based
on exploitation of resources and modification of the environment, any
change is acceptable if present economic benefit can be obtained
from it. These individuals point out that a technological fix has
always been possible up to now whenever ecological trouble threatened.

Also rejected here is the viewpoint of some ecologists, whom social
scientists (e. g., Wengert 1958) have accused of contending that
sound resource use should be measured against the primeval conditions
of 1492. "... In this view man is the despoiler of nature, and
resources and their preservation become ends in themselves. To the social
scientists, resources are a means -- a function of time, space, and cul-
ture . . . [The objective should be] the application of intelligence
to current resource problems in the context of particular social conditions
and objectives. II The mere assertion' that the environment is being
changed or even damaged does not of itself justify social intervention
to prevent or reverse the change. There is needed first an assessment of
the magnitude of the damage, and of its political, economic, and other
social costs; and then an exploration of alternative measures and'devices
for achieving similar ends (Barnett 1967)~

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GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Ecological effects of weather modification will be the result of,
moderate shifts in rates of reproduction, growth, and mortality of weather--
. sensitive species of plants and animals. Ecological changes from the kinds
of weather modification now visualized will seldom be sudden or catastro-
phic.' Plant and animal communities change rather slowly in response to
changed climate. The cumulative effect of slow year-to-year changes in
species abundance could be a rather extensive alteration of original con-
dition, but the alteration could take place almost unnoticed by the general
public.

The combined effect of such stresses as air pollution, pesticide
application, and other environmental changes may interact with weather
modification in such a way that the total effect will be substantially
greater than the sum of the individual, perhaps relatively small, alter-
ations (109).ll The prospect of complex ecological interactions is one
of the most important points to be considered in assessing the probable
consequences of environmental change due to the activities of man.

Weather modification will be a change imposed on an already variable
climate. This will make quick detection of its effects more difficult
than if normal weather was identical from one year to the next. This
problem will be accentuated by the normai, so far unexplained, fluctua-

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l/Numbers in parentheses refer to the pertinent pages in the body of this
report.