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<br />r <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />these ne'" pm./ers very difficult. Perhaps VIe shall be fsced by possibility of losses <br />as unpredictable and serious as those >/hich threatened before weather control was <br />pract iced. <br /> <br />Still another problem which needs to be solved quickly is the degree of q~lifi- <br />cations which should be possessed by any Drivate )arty announcing himself in <br />ousiness in the field. Even at this early stage in development, it appears t~at <br />efficient and "'ell timed o'C'eration of the required e'1.ui}ment requires a high '1.ue.l- <br />ity of technical knowledge and skill. Then if the conclusions indicated by evi- <br />dence now on hand are correct, amateur bungling by untrained persons not only can <br />cause failure of attempts with consequent losses to clients, but also can result in <br />~.ge of various kinds over large areas. In fact errors in jadgment in this field <br />could have more serious conse'1.uences than in the older field of weather forec~sting. <br /> <br />cJ. <br />.-I <br />\fj <br />~ <br /> <br />Still another set of ~uestions involve the chain of effects that might be set off <br />by "Ieather control operations. \-Tidesprepd ::Iodification of precipitation might cause <br />changes in temnerature, >.ind G.1rection end wind veloci ties "Ihich co;lid prevent the <br />benefits eA~ected from careful and exc)ensivs plaruling. For all that is known nO\-l, <br />storms of the hurricane Or tornado type might be engendered or the intensity and <br />uath of such disturbances altered. There is one case on record of an attempt by <br />~eeding to break up a hurricane \-Ihich was moving eastward '.ell out over the Atlantic <br />Ocean from tilo ?lorida. Coast. C'reat changes were observed immediately in the cloud <br />structure. Stortly after"ard the storm suddenly ",hipped about and hurled itself <br />upon the Georgia Coast near Savan:aah inflicting tremendous damage and some loss of <br />life. <br /> <br />Finally one must consider the imclications of new discoveries that are likely to <br />occur very ra9idly. It is )ossitle that many startling advances in the fields both <br />of forecasting and control heve been made alrea.dy in 1)rojects operating under close <br />secrecy. The armed services for very sOlmd reasons may refuse to allo"1 some of <br />these to come into the public knowledbe for soms time. It has been true generally <br />that an important discovery in any ne>' field with potentialities of commercial sig- <br />nificance hes been only the forerunner of a series. Even thoueh these have pro- <br />vided great benefits, at least eventually, they sometimes have been responsible for <br />preliminary )eriod of confusion, waste, wild speculation anc. fraud. <br /> <br />If there are the tremer.dous possibilities in the field of weather modification that <br />many hard headed scientists believe eY~st, then there TIrobably has never been a case <br />in our history, except the recent ci.evelo"ment in atomic ener~', which abounds in <br />suct op1)ortunity for disaster because of incompetent and irresponsible parties. In <br />the case of a.tolOlic energy, tremendous cost of experimentation is a natural defense. <br />:o:vic.ently then there is a trelQendous amount of research and organi zation that needs <br />to be done. Even if the end result is proof that weather control should be dismissed <br />as another ',rill-o-the-'Ilisp, that '.,ould clear the scene so that "Ie could devote our <br />efforts to ever more accurate forecasting. Assuming that many, if not most, of the <br />claims are true, it doesn't re'1.uire much thought to realize the possible impact on <br />humen insti tutions. Eistor.: is full of accounts of shifts in mili tary fortunes be- <br />cause of '.'leather. Because of greater dopendence in '.'ar upon vehicles end aircr..ft, <br />changes in '"eather might maJ<e da!1f;er of mil! tary disaster greater tl:an in past eras. <br />Furthermore, ability to restrain or stimulate precipitetion could uake it possible <br />to delivor deadl,T ,?oieo:ls, radiop-.ctive substance or virulent bacilli upon certain <br />areas by the use of currents in the atmosphere. <br /> <br />Heavy rainfall induced in one ,?a.rt of a Vletershed might CaUse serious flood damage <br />in another part. For ins tance. ra.ins during spring a.nd early summer in the interest <br />of farmers and ranchers in the mountain states of Idaho, ; ;ontana 9.nd '.Jyoming could <br />ai'''. greatly to the destructiveness of the floods '.'Ihich fre'1.uentlj' occur ir. the. lONer <br />- 6 - <br />