00:00A San Francisco startup claims it produced 19 million gallons of water in three hours
00:05by seeding clouds over Alaska. Rainmaker used drones to disperse silver iodide into clouds,
00:11speeding up ice crystal formation that falls as rain. This technology, more than 80 years old,
00:17works best in cold or mountainous regions like Alaska. But Cooper Freeman from the Center for
00:22Biological Diversity worries about environmental safety and says there was no monitoring after
00:27seeding. Rainmaker's CEO says they release only 20 grams of silver per flight, far below FDA safety
00:34limits. Experts say cloud seeding can boost precipitation by 5 to 10 percent under the
00:39right conditions. New approaches now test biodegradable proteins to replace silver iodide.
00:45As water scarcity grows, more regions are turning to cloud seeding to help meet demand. But the
00:50technology still produces only a small fraction of needed rainfall. Disclosure. This video contains
00:56stock footage and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.
