Weather control
Weather control has been something humans have desired for as long as they have suffered from unpredictable and destructive weather. Even in our scientific times its effectiveness is in many cases largely dependent on gullibility.
History of weather control
If we dispense with legends, at least Native American Indians had methods which they believed to induce rain. The Finnish people, on the other hand, were believed by others to be able to control all weather. Thus Vikings refused to take Finns on their raids by sea. Remnants of this belief lasted well into the modern age, with many ship crews being reluctant to accept Finnish sailors.
The early modern era saw people observe that during battles the firing of cannons and other firearms often precipitated precipitation. The first example of weather control which is still considered workable is probably the lightning conductor.
Modern aspirations
There are two factors which make weather control extremely difficult if not fundamentally intractable. The first one is the immense quantity of energy contained in the atmosphere.
The second is its turbulence.
Effective cloud seeding to produce rain has always been some 50 years away. People do utilize even the most expensive and experimental types of it, but more in hope than confidence.
Another even more speculative and expensive technique that has been semiseriously discussed is the dissipation of hurricanes by exploding a nuclear bomb in the eye of the storm. It is questionable that it will ever even be tried, because if it failed, the result would be a hurricane bearing radioactive fallout along with the destructive power of its winds and rain.
See also: climate simulation, weather forecasting
Referenced By
Weather forecast | Weather forecasting
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