Cloud Seeding's Promise Hindered by Conspiracy Theories

Key Quotes

"Cloud seeding was invented in 1946 by general electric scientists in upstate new york and what they were trying to do was to find a solution to the icing on airplane wings that's our colleague chris marr and they discovered that when they put dry ice into clouds in a simulated experiment it produced ice crystals like snow so it really was a way to squeeze more water more moisture out of clouds than would traditionally be falling naturally."

This quote introduces the origin and fundamental concept of cloud seeding, explaining its initial purpose and how it works to extract more moisture from clouds. Chris Marr highlights that the technology, developed by GE scientists, was initially intended to solve a practical problem with airplane wings. The interpretation shows that cloud seeding aims to enhance natural precipitation processes.

"The great salt lake is important on so many levels it's important ecologically it would be really a ecological disaster if the lake were to dry out it supports a lot of industry about 2 billion worth of industry annually recreation mineral mining different things and um even now there is also sort of a health risk too because as the lake dries out more dust is being created from the that dry lake bed it's it's laden with arsenic uh there's risks to people's health asthma a variety of other concerns."

This passage details the multifaceted importance of the Great Salt Lake, emphasizing its ecological, industrial, and health-related significance. The speaker explains that the lake's drying poses a severe risk of ecological disaster, impacts industries worth billions annually, and creates health hazards due to arsenic-laden dust. This highlights the critical need for solutions to prevent the lake from further shrinking.

"Rainmaker's cloud seeding operation has grown quickly it got off the ground thanks to a big name in silicon valley peter thiel who was an early backer of rainmaker's ceo and the company does things differently than old school cloud seeding instead of using planes it uses drones and ai enhanced weather modeling."

This quote describes the rapid growth and innovative approach of the startup Rainmaker, noting its significant backing from Peter Thiel. The speaker points out that Rainmaker distinguishes itself from traditional cloud seeding methods by employing drones and AI-powered weather modeling. This indicates a modernization of the technology to improve its precision and efficiency.

"The question is how much rain can rainmaker actually make the great salt lake needs an enormous amount of water per year to stop drying up rainmaker is trying to prove that they can make about 10 billion gallons of water by april that's still a fraction of what the lake ultimately needs but utah state officials think cloud seeding could help and it's a whole lot cheaper than other methods like desalination."

This quote addresses the practical efficacy and economic viability of Rainmaker's cloud seeding efforts in addressing the Great Salt Lake's water crisis. The speaker notes that while Rainmaker aims to produce a substantial amount of water, it is still a small fraction of what the lake requires. However, Utah officials see cloud seeding as a more cost-effective alternative to methods like desalination.

"Beyond the challenges with the technology augustus has a consistent problem to deal with trying to put concerns to rest about the science behind his work that's because you can only modify the weather for so long before the conspiracy theories start swirling cloud seeding and weather modification it's very frontier it has to do with modifying the sky and people have this sort of intuitive notion that like that's god's domain or something i mean the words matter weather modification sound sci fi."

This passage highlights the significant challenge Augustus Doricko faces in combating conspiracy theories surrounding weather modification, despite technological advancements. The speaker explains that the inherently "frontier" nature of modifying the sky, coupled with terms like "weather modification," can evoke intuitive concerns and lead people to view it as interfering with a natural or divine domain. This suggests that public perception and fear of the unknown are major obstacles.

"The national weather service had said that about 20 inches of rain fell in certain areas and rainmaker has said that its cloud seeding missions can only produce a fraction of an inch so it wasn't really physically possible for the company to have done it and the company also ceased its operations when its own meteorologists noticed that there was a storm system coming into the area."

This quote refutes the conspiracy theory linking Rainmaker's cloud seeding to deadly floods in Texas by presenting scientific and operational facts. The speaker contrasts the massive rainfall recorded by the National Weather Service with the limited output Rainmaker's technology can achieve. Rainmaker's decision to cease operations due to an approaching storm system further supports their claim of not causing the disaster.