Word: weather
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...invested 600 million Australian dollars in its water infrastructure, and thinks for the state to shell out $7.6 million on a cloud seeding experiment is a worthwhile risk. "If it proves to do something, then it has to have some benefit," she says. "If we're seeing such weird weather - if we're going to have to pump water all over Australia via huge pipelines - wouldn't it be wiser to find another way?" she asks. "It would be worth...
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...
...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 a whiff...
...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 and after silver iodide "seeds...
...Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, FEMA doled out over 120,000 mobile homes to residents of the Gulf Coast. Many of those trailers have walls and cabinets made up of particleboard, which contains formaldehyde that can sometimes emit gas in hot, humid weather such as that found in Louisiana and Mississippi. The effect on humans (especially children) range from "burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; nausea; coughing; chest tightness; wheezing; skin rashes and allergic reactions." As early as March 2006, FEMA began to receive complaints about formaldehyde odors. After one trailer was tested, an April 2006 e-mail...