Why more countries are turning to weather modification

Countries around the world are increasingly turning to decades-old weather modification technology as part of a drive to control when and where rain falls.

Along with the United States and China, which Be proud The world’s largest weather modification program, France, Russia, India and Saudi Arabia are among a growing list of countries that have tried it Cloud seeding.

For many, the embrace of rainmaking stems from the need to boost water supplies as global demand continues to rise amid the crisis Climate crisis.

Others have sought to use cloud seeding to disperse fog at airports, tackle air pollution, reduce damage from hail, or even manipulate the weather for major events, such as 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Cloud seeding aims to improve a cloud’s ability to produce rain or snow by introducing small particles, Usually silver iodide. This process is limited in area and duration, and over time, it is estimated to increase local rainfall by 5% to 15%.

The concept is It is not without controversybut. Since cloud seeding experiments first began in the 1940s, they have raised concerns about the potential Environmental and ecological risks And smarter Regional security tensionswith countries They accuse each other of stealing rain.

There are two dynamics at play that appear to be renewing people’s interest in the technology — both in the U.S. and around the world, said Augustus Dorico, CEO of Rainmaker, a cloud pollination company based in California.

“One of them is really just circumstantial, a lot of these countries and regions are experiencing more fluctuations in their climate patterns and their precipitation and their water supplies, and so that necessarily leads them to be more creative than they have been in the past,” Dorico told CNBC by phone.

“Secondly, and I think this is like the real reason we started Rainmaker, is because in the last few years there have been some fundamental breakthroughs in how we make measurements and attribute cloud seeding effects.”

Despite its 80-year-old legacy, interest in cloud seeding “really declined” in the 1970s and 1980s because it was difficult to accurately measure the amount of rain produced by cloud seeding deployments.

Recent technological improvements now make it possible to verify the success of these deployments in real time, Dorico said.

The company, which says it intends to stem the drought of the American West, has seen rapid growth in recent months, from just 19 employees at the start of 2025 to 120 today, a trend that seems to underscore growing interest in cloud seeding.

However, despite its name, Dorico said the company’s cloud seeding projects are mostly designed for snowfall.

“I got the name of the company wrong, and Snowmaker might have been more appropriate. It doesn’t sound good for what it’s worth,” Dorico said.

“I think the most important thing for Rainmaker to do this season is to provide unequivocal proof that man-made snow exists — and to do it so often that it’s undeniable that it’s a viable, scalable technology,” he added.

Other cloud seeding companies based in the United States include Weather Modification Inc. in North Dakota and North American Weather Consultants in Utah, although some US states, such as Florida and Tennessee, have banned weather modification activities.

In terms of state-level support, China has done so It is said It supported its weather modification program with $2 billion between 2014 and 2021, while Saudi Arabia spent $256 million in 2022 to support the first year of its regional cloud seeding program.

Authorities in Iran It is said They sprayed clouds with chemicals over the Lake Urmia basin late last year, seeking to increase rainfall to combat floods in the country. The worst drought in decades.

But such projects are not always successful. In collaboration with Delhi Government, a team from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur Mixed results have recently been reported After experimenting with cloud seeding to address air pollution in the Indian capital.

The institute said in a statement at the time that its attempt was “not completely successful” due to a lack of moisture in the air, before adding that there was a measurable reduction in particulate matter after the experiment.

Diana Francis, head of the Environmental and Geophysical Sciences Laboratory at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, said cloud seeding could “modestly enhance” rainfall in the right conditions.

“But it is incremental rather than transformational, and works best as part of a broader water and air quality strategy,” Francis told CNBC via email.

Cloud seeding operations can typically cost between $1 and $10 per hectare of additional water, Francis said, noting that while this is still highly variable, it could be much cheaper than desalination.

There are also other major caveats to consider, Francis said, such as the strong reliance on cloud microphysics (since cloud seeding only works on existing clouds), attribution problems and potential geopolitical and legal issues regarding downwind effects.

Studies have shown no significant impact on human health or the environment from previous cloud seeding projects using silver iodide. According to to the World Meteorological Organization, while more research is needed to evaluate downwind effects.

The UN meteorological agency also acknowledged that significant challenges in public, social and local acceptance of rainfall processes remain widely evident.