The Geo-Politics of Climate Change and Cloud Seeding

By James R. Lee, American University, April 2014

“Given the potential for miscalculation or misperception due to the increasing use of cloud seeding technologies and capabilities, countries need to have some basic understandings of agreed upon behavior, mechanisms for dialogue, and registries of events for purposes of cataloguing and comparison. If a country or group had malevolent purposes, it is quite likely that geo-engineering could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. p. 19

3. The State of Cloud Seeding

Cloud seeding induces precipitation by introducing substances into cumulus clouds that cause condensation. Cloud seeding is one of several rain or snow making techniques. Most seeding uses silver iodide, but dry ice (solid carbon dioxide), propane, and salt are also used. People have attempted to make rain for millennia, but the first scientific demonstration of cloud seeding occurred in 1946 in the United States. A successful test of creating artificial rain took place in 1946 using dry ice and shortly thereafter. In 1947 Bernard Vonnegut did the same with silver iodide.23 The use of cloud seeding has substantially grown over the last half century….

Cloud seeding could affect climate only when carried out over a long period. An extended period of drought for example, will require an extended period of cloud seeding to counteract those trends. It is logical to assume that any effort to counteract climate change through cloud seeding will be a long-standing and expensive effort. It may well need to last for several hundred years, since climate change will not end in the year 2100.” p 20