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A Perspective on Weather Modification: Planned and Inadvertent

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Engineering Earth

Abstract

Weather modification has traditionally had two components: planned, referring to cloud seeding to increase rain or snow, decrease hail, reduce the destructiveness of hurricanes or dissipate fog, and inadvertent referring to the impact of large urban cities on the local weather (winds, precipitation, lightning, and aerosol concentrations). This chapter briefly examines 60 years of weather modification practices, research, results, and lessons that may be relevant to decisions regarding climate modification. For climate, one must consider whether issues related to scientific credibility, technological and logistical limitations, proof of concept requirements, effects of unexpected consequences, and funding cycles can be sufficiently resolved to provide both beneficial and verifiable results.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to Stanley A. Changnon, Jr. for his encouragement and insight into weather modification. The reviews of James Angel and David Kristovich were very helpful. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Illinois State Water Survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois State Water Survey, Institute of Natural Resource Stability, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Nancy Westcott

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  1. Nancy Westcott
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Correspondence to Nancy Westcott .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 40506-0027, Kentucky, USA

    Stanley D. Brunn

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Westcott, N. (2011). A Perspective on Weather Modification: Planned and Inadvertent. In: Brunn, S. (eds) Engineering Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9920-4_120

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