Feds Say the Technology They Use to Control the Weather Doesn’t Work

For as long as humans have been subject to storms, they have dreamed of controlling the weather. The United States, succumbing to hubris like all great empires, has long sought to rule the skies to its own ends. A new federal report has released America sucks it up.

The report comes from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan watchdog group that investigates the U.S. government. It’s narrowly focused on “cloud seeding,” the practice of adding silver iodide crystals to clouds to make them burst and release that sweet sweet rain. As drought regularly hits the western states, many local governments are trying to use cloud seeding to bring rain.

It is not working well. The GAO acknowledged that cloud seeding has some validity, but that measuring its effectiveness is nearly impossible. “Cloud seeding can increase water availability and result in economic, environmental and human health benefits. In the studies GAO reviewed, estimates of excess precipitation ranged from 0 to 20 percent,” the report said. “However, the effects of cloud seeding are difficult to assess due to limitations in efficacy studies.”

The concept of cloud seeding began in the late 19th century but was not studied and perfected until after World War II. “Scientists demonstrated the basis of cloud seeding in the 1940s when they observed in the laboratory that water present in clouds could be artificially induced to form ice crystals using dry ice or silver iodide crystals,” the GAO said in its report. “Extensive federal funding of research and development, including field experiments, followed this discovery. For example, in fiscal year 1978, total federal funding for climate change was about $68 million, in 2024 dollars.”

Scientists could never prove that it worked. Or, if it did, how effective the seeding was. In the 1980s, the federal government cut back on cloud seeding funds. Nowadays, most cloud seeding schemes are local affairs. According to the GAO, nine states (California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming) are cloud seeding.

Seeding methods and specifications vary widely between countries and even states. This can be done from an airplane flying overhead or through a cloud system, or from a large cannon on the ground that pumps particles into the air. This is often done with silver iodide, but sodium chloride, dry ice, liquid propane, and other salts are also used.

The GAO report lists the technology’s limitations. Utah alone is dumping $12 million a year on cloud seeding without much to show for it. It’s hard to estimate how much rain would have occurred without cloud seeding, so there’s no great way to create a control group for a study. It is also difficult to know how much rainfall has been affected by seeding in a particular area. Many previous studies of seed-based precipitation showed results that were not statistically significant.

“Although one study found an average increase in precipitation of 3 percent in 118 randomized cases, this effect was not statistically distinguishable from zero,” the GAO said. “One study reported a 3 percent increase in average precipitation between 1977 and 2018 in nine cases, but statistical results could not conclusively determine the impact of cloud seeding in seven cases.”

The GAO also noted that no one knows what damage to plants and animals on the ground is caused by pumping silver iodine crystals and other particles into the clouds to produce rain. More water in dry areas is generally better. But changing water levels in delicate and complex ecosystems can have unintended consequences. “One stakeholder stated that it is unclear whether cloud seeding can improve fish outcomes through higher water levels and lower water temperatures, and it is uncertain how increased soil moisture from cloud seeding can reduce wildfire susceptibility in healthy, less dry forests.”

Silver iodine appears to be non-toxic in small doses, but the science is far from settled. “Silver iodide is almost insoluble in water,” the report said. “However, when it dissolves, it releases small amounts of silver ions. In large amounts, silver ions—a known antimicrobial substance—can have harmful effects on beneficial bacteria in the environment and water resources.”

The GAO also called out another problem with cloud seeding programs: conspiracy theories. Government weather control has long been a feature of conspiracy theories. It is a popular topic for Alex Jones And GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia rose to prominence this year after spreading the word following it. Hurricane Helen.

This has led some lawmakers to view cloud seeding as a threat. Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill in April that banned all forms of cloud seeding in the state. In interviews with the media, Tennessee lawmakers said they would take the measure Prevention of chemtrails A ban on cloud seeding in the sky will do nothing to prevent chemtrails, which leave only plumes of condensation and exhaust aircraft in their wake.