Weather modification has been happening for decades. Does it work?

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00:00Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to ban weather modification in the United

00:04States, so she hosted a hearing on the subject that included conspiracy theories and true

00:09stories that are so wild they're hard to believe.

00:13The hearing made two things clear.

00:15Modern weather modification has been happening for decades, and we know very little about

00:20the impacts.

00:21Before we get into the hearing, it's important to know that the host, Congresswoman Greene,

00:25has spread conspiracy theories about weather modification in the past, like claiming California

00:31wildfires were purposefully lit using space lasers.

00:35This summer, conspiracy theories were circulating that the Texas floods were caused by cloud

00:40seeding.

00:41And while there were falsehoods and conspiracy theories discussed during the hearing, what

00:44is real shed light on the lengths to which scientists have gone in an attempt to control

00:49the weather.

00:50Project Cirrus that took place in 1947.

00:54A crew aboard an Air Force B-17 bomber tried to modify a tropical cyclone by dropping crushed

01:00dry ice into the clouds.

01:01They conducted the test after the storm crossed over Florida and went out to sea.

01:06After the test, the storm strengthened and took a 135-degree turn and went back over land, causing

01:13millions of dollars in damage in South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.

01:17The head of GE Laboratory said he was 99 percent sure that the storm had changed course due to

01:23the experiment.

01:25Lawsuits were filed and then dismissed after what was then called the Weather Bureau discovered

01:30storms could turn without seeding.

01:33Well, does weather modification work?

01:35Meteorologists who testified said there's not enough evidence to know.

01:40It's done at a small scale, so it's not clear that it's viable.

01:44One panelist said humans don't have the power to alter major storms.

01:48Research has made clear that changing a major specific event, a hurricane or a drenching rain

01:55or a drought is just beyond human capabilities.

01:59That's not what's happening.

02:01Nature has so much energy involved, that's not going to happen.

02:05One of the main forms of weather modification is cloud seeding, which is the practice of

02:09adding tiny particles like silver iodide into clouds to trigger rain and snow.

02:14Government data reveals scientists don't know much about the effects.

02:17According to the Government Accountability Office, cloud seeding can increase localized precipitation

02:22anywhere from zero to 20 percent.

02:25The GAO adds, however, it's difficult to evaluate the effects due to research limitations.

02:30Specifically, the GAO said the use of silver iodide for cloud seeding does not pose an environmental

02:36risk or health concern at current levels.

02:40But the office admits it does not know whether it would have an effect on public health or

02:44the environment if it became more widespread.

02:47The EPA has said that unintended consequences of weather modification could include

02:52reduced crop yields, changes in plant and animal life, ozone depletion, and harm to human

02:58health.

02:59Some scientists think they can predict and control the impact of geoengineering.

03:04But even the best scientific models will never be able to capture all of God's wonderful

03:09creation and nature's mysteries.

03:13So we can predict the real impacts these global scale interventions would have little better

03:18than the Native Americans could know the impact of their rain dances.

03:22Again introduced legislation to ban weather modification in the United States.

03:26Currently, Florida and Tennessee have prohibitions.

03:29Four states are working on bills that would ban it.

03:32And nine states have active cloud seeding programs.

03:35The meteorologists at the hearing gave a few recommendations for climate policy.

03:39Number one, the federal government needs to pass laws regarding weather modification so there

03:44is uniformity across all 50 states.

03:47And two, the United States should lead international talks with the goal of banning solar geoengineering

03:52worldwide.

03:53I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Outer News.

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