In lieu of an actually interesting collection of words and punctuation marks, I present this debate that has nothing to do with us: the weather in China. It seems that they’ve figured out how to control the weather over there using super-duper technology called cloud seeding. You may have heard of it. The problem is that officials there are blaming scientists for causing a major snowstorm; more snow is expected in the coming days. Basically, it’s snowing too much, too early, and the powers that be aren’t happy.
Like I said, I sincerely doubt the good people of Columbus, Ohio care about the weather in China, but it helps introduce a topic that I can run with for a minute: should man control the weather? I’ve come up with two points of view based on zero research to help get the conversation started.
Yes we should! We’re mankind, the top of the food chain and arbiters of all that happens on the planet. If we can move earth, drain lakes, divert rivers, drop nuclear bombs (throwing untold garbage into the atmosphere), then why shouldn’t we be allowed to control when it rains? I can see it being genuinely helpful, too, bringing rain to an area that’s going through a drought. You know what I mean. It wouldn’t merely be controlling the weather for the sake of it.
No we shouldn’t! If man were meant to fly he’d have wings, and if man were meant to control the weather he’d have the equivalent of wings for the purposes of this sentence. Who’s to say what would happen if we mess up while seeding the clouds? Or, to get theological, what right do we have to dictate the weather patterns He has chosen for us?
I’d have to say China should just leave the dang weather along. Seriously, if it’s going to rain/snow, let it naturally come.
Did you know about bill gates trying to control and as they put it “dampen” the effects of Tropical storms and hurricanes by pumping water from the bottom of the ocean right to the top using a large amount of barges? lol. Cant find the article again, but him and a bunch of other investors are backing the research for it.
My concern with controlling the weather comes from the unpredictable side effects. There is only so much natural precipitation to go around, if you’re moving it to some place where it does not naturally occur, where are you taking it from?
Does the law of conservation of matter/energy really translate over to rain?
Well actually, it translates over to everything. Thats why it’s considered a LAW of physics.
no, it only refers to the sum total of mass or energy in the universe, not to any particular form of it. the law of conversation of mass, therefore, has nothing to do with rain, as you mentioned it.
that being said, this planet is covered primarily by water, so i’m sure you can figure out where the rain would come from if you put your mind to it.
i meant law of conservation, not conversation. my dyslexia abounds.
well hell i say if they wanna play around with weather control, then let um. but when they wipe there self off the face of the planet by some super typhoon they accidentally created or whatever the case, then they bet not start complaining.
I think the term “controlling” the weather is a bit broad. If nothing else, we are simply “influencing” or nudging the weather to better suit our whims.
I seem to a recall a great episode of GI-Joe( Go Joe) where they had to collect pieces of hardware that when put together they were able to control the weather. In the right hands controlling the weather could be a blessing. Say if you were in the desert and you wanted rain. If it fell into the wrong hands you could cripple economies. Very dangerous stuff..
Kurt Vonnegut said quite a bit on the subject, since his brother developed the technology to seed clouds. I recall something about disappointment, since such a potentially beneficial scientific discovery was immediately adapted to the purposes of war. But the thing is, they’re not creating clouds, they’re just influencing them to drop their precipitation on a different schedule than the clouds had intended. You can’t put rain where there are no clouds.
… but can you put clouds where there is no rain?
Hm?
Hmmmm??!!
evolution is a process of nature. human being are part of nature. human beings created machines. ie. nature created machines. therefore machines are part of nature. machines are part of the evolutionary process as well. cloud seeding is just another part of that evolutionary process. the question isn’t should we. the question is, how should we. ie. how will this be regulated to promote the greater good of humankind and ultimately nature.
Yeah, because controlling the weather is something that we should be doing. I mean really, we’ve been so adept at managing the air quality, global fresh water supplies, forestry, the global economy. Why wouldn’t we work towards controlling the global weather patterns. I mean really, how hard can it be?
The current system of weather management is haphazard at best. It’s generally unpredictable, it’s very inconvenient an it’s all over the place from a temperature fluctuation perspective. I mean really, who designed this system anyway?
Of course we should be managing it. It’s not like it would lead to unforeseen circumstances or anything.
This can lead to a free market economy for privatized weather where you can bid on your own weather pattern for a specific region and the highest bidder wins. Kind of like an open ad market. It’s a total no brainer. Quite simple really.
This is a guaranteed success.
I welcome for one welcome our weather controlling overlords. Bring on the Cylons.
Of course we’re not meant to fly. If God had wanted us to fly He would have given us airplanes.
Wasn’t this the recent TV movie “The Storm,” with the Dawson’s Creek guy and Luke Perry? They created a weather controlling device and the military got a hold of it (of course) and they used it to fight terrorists (of course) and messed up the weather system creating monster typhoons and tornados in Las Angeles. I don’t watch the ending because the whole thing was God awful, and for that reason alone I recommend that no one control the weather.
i think benjamin had the right idea about not controlling the weather but rather influencing it, its not like we can just push a button and it starts to rain, you still have to send up planes to seed said clouds.
but hey why are we even having this debate. al gore would have you believe that we ALREADY are the reason for the weather.
i personally think its rather arrogent to think that we can cause the catastrophe he calls global warming (and i scoff at the concept that it exists but thats not for this topic) what im worried about is the political sides to this,
assume we can begin to simply say “Rain in Kansas” and hit a button. what i want to know is which political mob is going to get behind this technology first and then to what extents they will attempt to take the new found power =\
What a coincidence. Just today I looked up at the sky and I noticed a cloud said “Made in China”. Everything really is made there.
What are we going to do the day the sun stops burning? Many believe the world ends, but some look up at the sun and believe that by the time it happens, man kind will have created his own sun.
It would be better if we just learned to predict the weather a little more accurately rather than try and directly influence it. Weather patterns are the Earth’s natural means energy release and replenishment, so changing patterns in one region will directly effect another in potentially undesirable ways.
I think we should start to control the weather after many years. If we start right now we will end up making some mistake which will destroy some area. We also need to have all of the countries sign an agreement saying not to abuse the power.
In the end I like the idea since we have control over everything else but we should wait some time.
The answer lies between the two extremes. Cloud seeding has been around for over half a century and has had some success, particularly in winter snowpack enhancement over mountains. Seeding is a good term because it’s similar to farming in that one is providing the seeds for growth, in this case a bit more (maybe 10%) precipitation seasonally. It’s not a drastic change and it’s not the only solution to our water problems. But compare it to some other water augmentation techniques like dam building, desalination, and diverting river flow, and it’s quite environmentally benign in comparison.
Of course, a tool is only useful if it’s used for the proper purposes. A knife is useful for cutting things but also for cutting people. The same with weather modification and “geoengineering.” In the wrong hands, it could be dangerous. But that’s beyond my scope of discussion here.
Final thing – humans have been modifying the environment and the weather tremendously in an INADVERTENT way, particularly since the industrial revolution (pollutants, heat, etc.) Even when one plows a field and grows crops, it modifies the weather. I don’t see too many people coming out against agriculture.
So why not use cloud seeding as another tool in the tool box? But use it wisely, ethically, and in a sound scientific way. Easier said than done, of course.
Man already plays with the weather. We build dyke’s and levies that hold back the oceans, we emit pollutants that may effect temperature, we build cities full of concrete that also effects temperatures, we do so much that messes with mother nature. Why stop now?
They’ve been messing with the weather since at least the 60’s and were able to steer and weaken (or strengthen) hurricanes way back then. Weather modification is not new.