Man's desire to control the weather dates back to ancient times. But neither ritual dances nor spells had the desired effect. Much water has flown under the bridge since then. Man conquered nature, turned it into his workshop. We use our planet and its resources at our own discretion. What about the weather and climate? To what extent are they subject to us today?
What is weather and what is climate
To begin with, let's clarify a little what weather and climate are and how they differ from each other. In fact, we live at the bottom of the air ocean, which is called the atmosphere. This is a giant ocean with incomparable energy. The mass of the Earth's atmosphere is 5.1-5.31018 kilograms, or 5.1-5.3 quintillion kilograms (one quintillion is, in other words, a billion billion). Thanks to Earth's gravity, the atmosphere is not only held near the planet, but also rotates with it as a whole.
The term "weather" refers to the state of the atmosphere at a particular moment. Weather phenomena such as rain, snow, fog, and so on, occur in the lower part of the atmosphere - starting from the Earth's surface and up to an altitude of about 11 kilometers (the so-called troposphere), and partly in the next higher layer - the stratosphere, up to 50 kilometers above sea level. By the way, it is in the troposphere, the lower layer of the earth's atmosphere, that more than 80% of the total mass of air and about 90% of all water vapor in the atmosphere are contained.
Weather, as the state of the atmosphere at the current moment and in a specific place, has a number of significant characteristics. Significant both in terms of human comfort and for agriculture or warfare. These characteristics, also called meteorological elements, include air temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind direction and strength, precipitation, atmospheric phenomena (fogs, blizzards, thunderstorms), visibility range, and so on. And, what is important to understand, both for forecasting the weather and for managing it, they are all interconnected.
In general, the weather in a particular area changes within the framework of certain parameters that have been established as a result of long-term observations. The average state of the atmosphere over a long period of time in a particular area is called climate. Essentially, climate is a multi-year weather pattern.
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Weather control methods
The main technology for weather correction is to actively influence the clouds. The most famous way is to "seed" them with chemical reagents. This can make the cloud rain or dissipate. Including, you can make rain where it can be shed, so that it does not go where it is definitely impossible for it to go.
In this way, sunny weather is ensured in Moscow during festive events. And in China, for example, before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in 2008, it rained on the outskirts of Beijing. During the ceremony, there was not a cloud over the capital of the Olympics.
Actually, it must be said that clouds, as well as atmospheric phenomena such as rain, snow or hail, are possible on our planet because the temperature conditions of the lower layers of the Earth's atmosphere allow water to be in all three states of aggregation - in gaseous, solid and liquid. By acting on the clouds with the help of reagents, it is possible to achieve the transition of water from one state to another.
Back in the middle of the last century, it was found that silver iodide and lead iodide contribute to the appearance of water crystallization centers in the clouds. When "sowing" with reagents (and now, depending on the types of clouds, carbon dioxide granules, powders of cement, talc or gypsum are also used), premature crystallization of moisture occurs in the clouds, and as a result, precipitation occurs. Reagents are sprayed, usually from aircraft. The fight against hail is carried out in a similar way.
The method is as follows. Hills are formed in clouds as a result of moisture freezing on crystallization nuclei. Unlike rain, such crystals do not have time to melt as they approach the surface and fall out in the form of hail. If there are few such crystallization nuclei in the cloud, then the formed hailstones reach large sizes and thus can cause significant damage to agricultural plantings, property and even people.
To prevent the growth of hailstones in the cloud, it is necessary to increase the number of crystallization centers. With the use of anti-hail missiles or specially equipped aircraft, reagents are introduced into the clouds, which act as additional crystallization centers. Artificial crystallization nuclei brought into the cloud compete for the moisture contained in the cloud with natural ones. The result is more pieces of ice that are smaller. On the way to the surface, they will melt and turn into raindrops, or they will fall out in the form of fine ice grains, which will no longer pose any danger.
The work on dispersing fogs is carried out in a similar way. This is of practical economic importance in the areas of airports, as it allows to increase the visibility range and ensures the takeoff and landing of aircraft.
It would be right here to continue, but other methods of weather correction have not yet found wide economic use and remain at the stage of experiments. But some interesting experiments are worth mentioning.
So, interesting experiments in which it is supposed to influence the clouds using lasers. Such experiments are already being carried out by scientists around the world. According to experts, the concentration of water vapor necessary for precipitation can be created using a laser beam. Laboratory tests show that the atoms deprived of electrons form positively charged nuclei of crystallization in the air. As a result, ice or raindrops grow in much the same way as in the case of chemical reagents. But if a cloud is required when using silver iodide or dry ice, then when using a laser, you can do without it. Rain, according to scientists, can be caused from scratch, literally taking moisture from the atmosphere. One of the obstacles to using this method was the effect of the scattering of the laser beam in the atmosphere. But,according to media reports, American scientists have overcome it.
Scientists from the United Arab Emirates also do not want to stand aside. This is not surprising, because in hot countries the need for rain is felt especially acutely. During one of the experiments to induce rain in the desert, several giant ionizers were placed. With their help, negatively charged ions rise to the sky. They attract dust particles, and they collect moisture from the air around them.
Climate change projects
Controlling the current weather is one thing, but purposefully changing the climate in a selected area is another. Raising or, conversely, decreasing the average annual temperature, balancing the amount of precipitation or stopping winds is the cherished dream of many enthusiasts. But we have not yet learned how to do this. But there are climate change projects, and they are quite interesting.
If we talk about Russia, then projects on climate change in the Far Eastern regions of our country are of particular interest. The deputies of the Vladivostok City Duma, for example, recently suggested changing the course of the Amur River. This will lead to a change in the movement of sea currents in the Sea of Japan and the Tatar Strait, and, as a result, to an improvement in the climate throughout the Far East. However, the idea of influencing sea currents to change the climate in Primorye is not new. Back in 1894, a proposal was made to block the Tatar Strait, separating Sakhalin from the mainland, with a dam. Another idea that emerged during the Soviet era, on the contrary, suggested expanding the strait at its narrowest point - the Nevelskoy Strait. This would allow directing the warm Tsushima current to the Sea of Okhotsk. Such attention to Primorye is not surprising. After all, Vladivostok is located at the same latitude,as Sochi, but the climate is not at all southern. And the topic of heating territories with the help of sea currents is very tempting.
Do not forget that the climate of Europe is largely determined by the Gulf Stream - a warm current in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, if we had such a current in the Far East, then the Pacific coast of Russia from Vladivostok to Magadan would be a very convenient place to stay.
The authors of the projects already imagine ice-free ports, blooming gardens and resorts in this rather cold land. Such a climate would facilitate the influx of the population and the development of the Far East.
But changing the climate is possible not only by changing the direction of sea currents. A more global plan for changing natural conditions, the results of which should have affected the climate in many regions of our country, tried to be implemented in the late forties of the last century. It went down in history as "Stalin's plan for the transformation of nature." The plan, developed by the country's leading scientists, provided for two main methods of influencing nature: the creation of forest plantations and artificial reservoirs.
In the steppe and forest-steppe regions of the country, from Ukraine to Kazakhstan, it was proposed to plant eight large forest belts, the length of which would exceed 5300 kilometers, and the total area of forest plantations would be 112,000 hectares. The forest belts were supposed to protect from dry winds - hot southeast winds. At the same time, the creation of a wide network of irrigation systems began. Several thousand ponds and reservoirs have been created. To speed up forest plantations, forestry machines have been developed for simultaneous seven-lane tree planting.
If the plan succeeded, it would lead to climate change in an area equal to the territories of France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands combined. The climate would become more acceptable for agriculture. A crop from agricultural fields in this area could provide food for half of the world's inhabitants. But after 1953, the plan was curtailed.
However, forest plantations do not stop to this day. The so-called "Kyoto" forests are laid on the territories of the Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk and Omsk regions. According to the authors of the Kyoto Protocol, the planted forests will not only contribute to the improvement of the climate on the planet, but will also allow the countries where they grow up to earn money by selling quotas for greenhouse gas emissions.
Another region of the Earth where governments have a keen interest in managed climate change is the Middle East. Especially the oil-producing countries of the Arabian Peninsula, which have money for impressive and expensive projects. The United Arab Emirates decided to build an artificial mountain in order to change its arid climate. The authorities of the Emirates have allocated 400 million dollars to scientists from the National Center for Meteorology and Seismology and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (USA). It is necessary to determine the total size of the artificial structure, its height and flatness of the slopes, as well as in which region of the country it is best to build it. Rain clouds will form near the mountain, which can later be dispersed across different regions of the country.
By the way, according to scientists, it is not necessary to touch the currents for climate change in Primorye. Building a mountain range in the north of Primorsky Krai (if it ever becomes possible) will prevent cold air from entering the region. As a result, it will become warmer in Vladivostok in winter. But the construction of not ridges or even mountains, but walls, according to American scientists, will reduce the threat of a tornado. Three walls, each 300 meters high, built in different parts of the United States, would prevent tornadoes, and with them, the multibillion-dollar losses that they bring.
Sergey Sobol
