A Modern Rain Dance?

How the effect of climate change might be mitigated.

One of the direst effects of climate change is the havoc it wreaks on local water cycles in some of the worlds most impoverished countries. Industries like agriculture and manufacturing suffer, kneecapping efforts to lift these nations out of poverty. It is the poorest and most disadvantaged people that suffer, indeed many die due to lack of access to adequate water supplies. This is not a dystopian prediction of some far-off future, it is a daily struggle for millions of people throughout the world today. I can speak from personal experience from when I visited my grandparents in India. Municipal water is only available for a few hours a day. The water for the entire day must be stored during that time, otherwise it’s a long morning spent with the communal hand pump. The frightening part is that I was visiting a part of India that was not quite as water stressed as many other places in the country.

The use of geo-engineering is generally considered controversial, but for countries facing an immediate crisis like India, it might be their only option. People do question though, whether India even has to use it. India cannot reverse global climate change on their own, however, many of their problems stem from poor water management. Growing water intensive crops like sugar cane in a very dry areas, not using modern irrigation techniques, as well as poor infrastructure contribute to India’s water woes. The solutions to those problems, however, are complicated and require both political will to take on the various lobbies and large amounts of money to construct the necessary infrastructure. It is understandable why many would see these silver iodide nanoparticles as a silver bullet. No need to step on any toes, and no need to spend money and time waiting on large infrastructure projects. Many people, including the author of the second article, would argue that this is meant to garner political good will before elections, but there is an immediate pressure to do something, or at least look like you are doing something. And when there are people dying from a lack of water can you blame them. The other issue is the efficacy of these cloud seeding endeavors. Whether this technology has as big of an impact as some promoters might imply is still an unanswered question. Ultimately, though, the experiments that are being performed in India, and China and other parts of the globe will increase our understanding of this technology. For the people that live in these water stressed regions however, it is not a matter of science, but of survival.

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