Word: cloud
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Toowoomba and its environs might be in luck. This week, scientists in the area got one step closer to launching what could be the world's most advanced experiment in rainmaking - or, as it's known in weather circles, cloud seeding. It's the practice of injecting clouds with a foreign substance, usually silver iodide, salt or dry ice, to make the the cloud's water or ice particles bigger and yield more rain. The technique has been used in different parts of the world for more than 60 years, with varying success. But the improvement of weather technology...
...fight the crushing drought, including a desalination plant and a controversial program to recycle waste into drinking water. "We're in uncharted territory as far as rainfall goes," says Craig Wallace, the state's Natural Resources and Water Minister. Wallace acknowledges that going out on a limb with cloud seeding - which still has its naysayers in the scientific community - may raise some eyebrows. "You'll always get skeptics, but we owe it to the people of Queensland to try everything...
...Cloud seeding was invented in 1946 by Bernard Vonnegut, older brother to essayist and novelist Kurt. Since then, it has enjoyed a colorful history. Countries around the world quickly adopted the technology, and over the three decades following its introduction, the U.S. spent many millions of dollars a year on weather modification. It was even used during the Vietnam War to increase rainfall on the Ho Chi Minh trail to hamper supply movement, until word got out and the U.S. agreed not to play with the weather while making war. In the 1970s, the science of cloud seeding acquired...
According to Roelof Bruintjes, a cloud seeding expert with the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, what's different about the Queensland project is that for the first time, scientists will be able to take full advantage of a simple premise: some clouds are better for seeding than others. Up to now, the right weather-measuring tools have never been in the right program at the right time. Starting in November, they will be. A project staff of about 30 will use a recently installed CP2 Doppler radar to analyze what's happening in the regions' clouds before, during...
...People smoke in train stations and airports, in restaurants, in hotel rooms, and on street corners. Walking through the city, I find myself holding my breath every few minutes to avoid inhaling a cloud of carcinogens. In many public areas, it's the non-smokers, instead of the smokers, who have to seek refuge in specially designated areas. While taking the elevator, for example, I noticed that the 11-story hotel I stayed at has a special “smoke-free” floor. Shouldn’t this be the other way around...