Climate modification

Chemical Considerations in Planning Pollution Induced Climate Modification in the Lake Michigan Basin. 

Inadvertent Climate Modification Report of the Study of Man s Impact... 

The study of trace constituents is also very important in order to estimate the effect of the activity of mankind on their atmosheric concentration levels. Taking into account their relatively low concentrations, an anthropogenic modification of their level is much easier than in the case of the main constituents. These alterations in the atmospheric composition raise the possibility of inadvertent climate modification since, as we shall see (see Chapter 6), there is a well determined relation between the composition of the atmosphere and the Earth s climate. 

Smagorinsky, J., 1974 Global atmospheric modeling and the numerical simulation of climate. In Weather and climate modification (ed. W. N. Hess), John Wiley and Sons, New York, 633-686. 

SMIC, 1971 Inadvertent climate modification. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

The other component is directed toward estimation of the capacity of the region to accept industrial development—the regional carrying capacity—based on the meteorological characteristics of the region. More specific needs are (1) more accurate atmospheric models to predict the transport and dispersion of atmospheric pollutants, (2) determining rates at which pollutants are removed from the atmosphere, and (3) quantitative information on the effects of air pollutants on critical atmospheric processes related to undesirable effects, e.g., precipitation quality, decreased visibility, and local climate modification. ... 

SMIC (Report of the Study of Man s impact on climate) (1971). Inadvertent Climate Modification. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Mineral dust is emitted from both natural and anthropogenic activities. Natural emissions arise by wind acting on undisturbed source regions. Anthropogenic emissions result from human activity, including (1) land-use changes that modify soil surface conditions and (2) climate modifications that, in turn, alter dust emissions. Such modifications include changes in windspeeds, clouds and precipitation, and the amounts of airborne soluble material, such as sulfate, that may become attached to mineral dust particles and render them more susceptible to wet removal. 

Over the past five years, there have been a number of studies which have sought to examine the effect of man s activities on clouds and climate. Modification of the microphysical stractuie of clouds as a result of biomass burning and the potential impact of the affected clouds on rainfall has been a topic of major interest. Field programs in the tropics have shown that biomass burning modifies the cloud condesation nuclei, and therefore there will be a change in the microphysical properties of clouds in the area. Increases in the CCN concentration results in more cloud droplets produced, with associated increases in cloud reflectivity. Assessing the impact of man s activities on cloud properties and reflectivity is an area of intense activity. 

Climate Modification Changes to the climate due to either natural processes or human activities. 

Weather modification has traditionally had two components, planned and inadvertent. Planned weather modification refers to cloud seeding to increase rain or snow, decrease hail, reduce the destructiveness of hurricanes or dissipate fog. Inadvertent weather modification typically has referred to the impact of large urban cities on the local weather as evidenced by higher temperatures, altered wind circulations, increased aerosols and particles and enhanced precipitation and lightning strikes compared to surrounding rural areas. This chapter primarily will address cloud seeding, then inadvertent weather modification, and follow with a discussion of lessons these endeavors may provide in considering future climate modification. 

Climatic measures will have some effect if the alteration process is affected by the climate modification. However, if the alteration processes is, e.g., related to successive infiltration cases of a salt with equilibrium relative humidity as related by Alves and Sequeira Braga (2000), environmental control could be ineffective (unless the option is a very high humidity environment near 100 %). In these cases it will necessary to fight the pollutants sources. 

---