c


c


 



  

Once considered a risky last resort, geoengineering is becoming more accepted as a possible way
to slow down global warming ± but that doesn¶t mean some of the ideas scientists are coming up
with don¶t sound downright kooky to the layman. One proposal involves lightening clouds with
salt to improve their ability to reflect sunlight.

Scientist John Latham suggested that increasing the number of droplets in maritime layer clouds
(stratocumulus), which cover a third of the ocean, could significantly increase their reflectance.

The water droplets in clouds reflect solar radiation back to space. And the numbers of droplets
they contain are largely controlled by the number of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), such as
specks of dust.

Many of these nuclei are produced over the land. Land-locked clouds therefore contain many
hundreds of cloud droplets per cubic centimetre, whilst clouds that form over the sea contain
substantially fewer.

Generally, the more droplets that are present in a cloud, the smaller they are. For a given mass of
water in a cloud, clouds with smaller droplets tend to be whiter.

So the proposal is to inject a fine spray of sea salt from the ocean surface into the clouds; to
artificially increase the number of drops, reduce their size and increase the reflectance of the
clouds, making them whiter.
The cooling that could result from this experiment could buy us 25 years in the battle against
global warming ± certainly, a lot of precious time to make other changes that could improve the
outlook. But this method will take quite a bit of testing to get it just right, including experiments
to determine the ideal size of the sea-salt nuclei. Research is expected to cost about $10 million.

So how exactly would we go about salting clouds? Edinburgh University scientist Stephen Salter
(yes, that¶s really his name) suggested a fleet of ³cloudseeders´, wind-powered yachts that would
inject the clouds with sea salt

///////////////////////////////////

c
 


  
  



   






 








 

 





 

  



 



 
 
 




 

 

 

  

 
 




  

  



  





 


| |

ÒClouds in the Mojave Desert]

|

Beyond the astonishing bird¶s nest featured at the recent Beijing Olympics was perhaps a more
spectacular accomplishment: large-scaled cloud seeding. Chinese film and Olympic opening
ceremony director Zhang Yimou cited rain as the largest threat to the opening ceremonies. To
ensure a rain-free performance, 1104 rocket¶s filled with silver iodide were fired into the smoggy
skies of 21 sites surrounding Beijing. These rockets dispersed cloud cover and prompted rain to
occur before the clouds could disturb the Olympic site. Baoding city, located southwest of
Beijing, absorbed 100mm of rainfall during the opening ceremonies, effectively keeping the
bird¶s nest dry.

Cloud seeding is one of the oldest and simplest weather modification technologies that, after
many years of unsuccessful attempts, have incurred a recent resurgence of research. Given the
complexity of dynamic atmospheric changes, the results of cloud seeding are difficult to prove.
This doesn¶t seem to be discouraging China, however, which has set up The Beijing Weather
Modification Office (a unit of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau ) that employs over 37,000
peasants that aid in rain production. In a water-deprived nation like China, every drop in the
atmosphere goes a long way.

Cloud seeding operates on the water vapor within clouds. Water vapor is typically converted to
water droplets through impurities known as condensation nuclei. What seeding does is inject
impurities into the clouds that allow water vapors to coalesce on, creating droplets around the
nuclei. Gravity can now pull these droplets from the sky to produce rain. Cloud seeding typically
occurs with the injection of silver iodide or dry ice that is either fired in missiles from land, or
dropped by air via small planes. It is important to note that seeding cannot make clouds but
rather promotes rain production in existing clouds.
 |

ÒCloud seeding airplane in Beijing via china-briefing.com]

|

Beyond the drying of the skies employed during the opening ceremonies, cloud seeding has
several other functions. It has been used to help put out forest fires, reduce hail that often attack
crops, cool temperatures to reduce electricity loads, and promote rain for agriculture in drought-
stricken land. With such potential benefits, it is not surprising that India and the United Arab
Emirates are following China¶s lead and employing cloud seeding tests.

Sciencedaily.com reports that scientists are predicting increased drought, flooding and forest
fires due to global warming in the next two hundred years. Reduced freshwater and more intense
droughts will encourage desertification that impacts the amount of vegetative density. With less
vegetation, increased runoff will also instigate flooding. Already highly valued freshwater is on
its way to becoming one of the world¶s most precious resources.

|| 
| |
|

|
|
| |
||
||
| |
|
|
 

|
|||| |
||
|
||||
 ||

 

||
|
|
|
|
| | ||
| |
| |

|| 
|

|
||||
| 
 |
||
|
|
 
|| ||
| |
|


| ||| 
| 
 | |

|
|


|| | 
|
| |
| || |
 |

||

|