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<br />r <br />I <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />'Co furnish means of e'{al;J.ation, rea.dings ':!ere com?iled from sta.tions upwind, L e. <br />>Iest of the zone of ope ratior.s, ",here the seeding processes should have no effect. <br />Seven stations west of, b\:.t near to the seeded territory, Here checked. Their <br />normal rainfall in July ranged from about 1.1 inches to 2.5 inches. <br /> <br />nr. Krick's ~eport on the seven u?-wind stations shows two of them had a little <br />Greater than normal precipitation and five had less. Of the stations in the target <br />a.ree., ell of them recorded far more than the normal fall. One hp.d only 56 percent <br />aoove normal but the others ranged from 104 percent to 319 percent above. At five <br />stations, all time records for the month were broken. In the entire history of <br />"'eathar re;:>orting in Ne~! l.ie::ico, nothing approaching such a pattern of precipitation <br />had ever before occurred in the a~eas covered in this demonstration. This instance <br />is typical of the !~ind of data presented in the third line of evi~ence because it <br />is ~uolicated or nearly du~licated in a large number of dernonstr~tions elsewhere. <br /> <br />Although the evidence is convincing to a high ~egree, a fe>: scientists with unas- <br />sailable reputations re!D8.in rather skeptical. It happens that some of them are on <br />the ste.ff of the 0. S. ''leether :Bureau. They >lill have an opportuni ty soon either <br />to present their sidt. or to announcs the.t they are convinced, because the 1-lea.ther <br />Eureau is now enga~ed on a )roject, the pur~ose of which is to investigate as in- <br />tensively as oossible all the evidence n~. available on >leather control. The end <br />product hoped for is a valid evaluation of the possibilities. At the same time, <br />investigation by private agencies and the armed forces will add greatly to our ,~ow- <br />ledge. Unfort~tely, the nresent dangerous world situation may make it necessarJ <br />to cle.ssify much of the r.ew kno~:ledge as top secret. It is exp~cted that research <br />into methods of ~eather modification will also unearth improved techniques for <br />forecastir.g. <br /> <br />It may be said then that evidence s:Pl1)orting the cower of h=n agency to increase <br />precipitation is extremely strong if not absolutely conclusive. Nearly as strong, <br />it seams. is evidence indicating the ability to reduce it by overseeding the clouds. <br />Consequently. it is assertec in W':1y quert<'rs that '"e have come to e. point that <br />governmenta.l action is necessary. If le.ter study proves our pO>lers over the elements <br />e.re not significant, >Ie suffer no injur.f except a. 'Period of embarrassment. !n the <br />face of such convincing evidence that He do have s'u.ch ':lONerS I perha.ps in a <br />greater measure than "18 reali ~et then. it is argued. He CB.r.~tot a.fford to delay. <br /> <br />cr')If, as strongly indicated by the evid.ence, the amount of rair.fall can be modified, <br />..-4the.t re':lresents only a. begin:1ir.g in e. large field. This raises im-oortant questions <br />~tl.at ne;d to be answered. First, can an induced storm in one locality rob the <br />"""blouds of moisture destined in the natural course of events to fall in another place? <br />Dr. iCrick and otilers of similer high oosition are of the opinion that a cloud loses <br />less thpr. one percent of its moisture in the course of a very heavy storm and that <br />it is merged very soon afteI""ards ",ith air currents which restore l1hat has been lost. <br />Nevertileless, until this is proved definitely, any landholder in an arid or drouth- <br />stricken a.rea has a right to look ':Ii tn uneasiness upon rainmaking opera.~ions at some <br />distance upwind from him. <br /> <br />Another natural question, if \-Ie grant po~er of weather modification, is just how much <br />can rainfall be effected? Scientists active in the field believe that orecinitation <br />over nea.rly B--~ e.ree. in nearly e;ny year can be increased by at least fifty p~rcent <br />and ve~' likely by wore than 100 percent. It is claimed also than rainfall Can be <br />made less irregular, or one oight sey, less freakish, and that it can be induced to <br />fill in ,.here there are lor.g, seasonal dry s:::>ells such as B.re characteristic of <br />California. Eo"!ever, one must recognize b.e ?ossibility that constant region- or <br />nation->Tide use of cloud seeding might merely suoeri!Dpose its effect on the natural <br />:rea1dshness of ,"eather or even result in greater range of irregJ.larity over short <br />peroods. Consequently, until theories, no matter h~1 logical, are refined into more <br />nearl:r exact kno,..,le~ge the"n is r,o., .')ossessed. '..re shall find planning based upon <br />- 5 - <br />