Can we make rain?

Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud.

Who invented cloud seeding?

Irving Langmuir

What are the negative effects of cloud seeding?

Risks or concerns like unwanted ecological changes, ozone depletion, continued ocean acidification, erratic changes in rainfall patterns, rapid warming if seeding were to be stopped abruptly, airplane effects, to name a few, may just not be bad enough to override the imperative to keep temperatures down.

How do clouds make rain?

This is exactly how clouds form and make rain. Water from rivers, lakes, streams, or oceans evaporates into the air when it is heated up by the sun. As the water vapor rises up in the air, it condenses, or starts to cool down and turns back into a liquid. When water drops fall from clouds, it is called rain.

Why rain clouds are dark?

Clouds are visible accumulations of tiny water droplets or ice crystals in the Earth’s atmosphere. When it’s about to rain, clouds darken because the water vapor is clumping together into raindrops, leaving larger spaces between drops of water. Less light is reflected. The rain cloud appears black or gray.

Do all clouds produce rain?

We know that not all clouds produce rain that strikes the ground. Some may produce rain or snow that evaporates before reaching the ground, and most clouds produce no precipitation at all. When rain falls, we know from measurements that the drops are larger than one millimeter.

Do dark clouds mean rain?

Most clouds are white, but rain clouds are usually a darker shade of gray. The thicker a cloud gets, the less light can pass through it. So when you look up at a rain cloud, the base or bottom of it looks gray. But not all dark clouds bring rain, and sometimes this is hard to predict.

Can stratus clouds produce rain?

Stratus clouds are uniform and flat, producing a gray layer of cloud cover which may be precipitation-free or may cause periods of light precipitation or drizzle. Thick, dense stratus or stratocumulus clouds producing steady rain or snow often are referred to as nimbostratus clouds.

Which is the highest cloud in the sky?

Cirrus clouds

Why are clouds white?

Clouds are white because light from the Sun is white. But in a cloud, sunlight is scattered by much larger water droplets. These scatter all colours almost equally meaning that the sunlight continues to remain white and so making the clouds appear white against the background of the blue sky.

How high up are cirrostratus clouds?

18,000 ft

What weather does stratus clouds bring?

What weather is associated with stratus clouds? Stratus is usually accompanied by little to no rainfall but if it is thick enough, it can produce light drizzle. This drizzle can also fall in the form of light snow if cold enough.

What are the highest clouds called?

Noctilucent cloud

Noctilucent clouds, or night shining clouds, are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere of Earth.
They are the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, located in the mesosphere at altitudes of around 76 to 85 km (249,000 to 279,000 ft).

How old is the oldest cloud on Earth?

Astronomers have discovered the largest and oldest mass of water ever detected in the universe — a gigantic, 12-billion-year-old cloud harboring 140 trillion times more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined.

Why do clouds glow at night?

Beautiful. Noctilucent clouds typically descend even lower after the summer solstice, according to Tony Phillips of SpaceWeather.com. When the sun is below the ground horizon but visible from the high altitude of noctilucent clouds, sunlight illuminates these clouds, causing them to glow in the dark night sky.

What type of cloud is fog?

Fog: Layer of stratus clouds on or near the ground. Different types include radiation fog (forms overnight and burns off in the morning) and advection fog.

How are clouds named?

Clouds are given different names based on their shape and their height in the sky. Some clouds are puffy like cotton while others are grey and uniform. Some clouds are near the ground, while others are near the top of the troposphere.