USG Weather Modification, May 1978

This document describes US Government Weather Modification: Programs, Problems, Policy, and Potential as of May, 1978. The report was prepared by the Congressional Research Service under the direction of Dr. Robert Morrison, Specialist in Earth Sciences, Science Policy Research Division. There is substantial material on almost all areas of weather modification included in the report."Weather modification is generally considered to be the deliberate effort to improve atmospheric conditions for beneficial human purposes, to augment water supplies through enhanced precipitation, or to reduce economic losses, property damages, and deaths through mitigation of adverse effects of hail, lightning, fog, and severe storms. "Not all weather modification activities, however, have been or can be designed to benefit everyone, and some intentional operations have been used, or are perceived to have been used, as a weapon of war to impede the mobility or tactical readiness of an enemy. Furthermore, environmental change is also effected unintentionally and without any purpose at all, as man inadvertently modifies the weather and climate, whether for better or worse scientists are not certain, through activities such as clearing large tracts of land, building urban areas, and combustion of fossil fuels."