Montana’s Huge Gap River may benefit from extra rainwater. Photograph: Flickr use Touring Otter, used through CC BY-SA 2.0
“Cloud seeding” has been within the information most just lately due to conspiracy theories in regards to the devastating Texas floods final month, however in an article on MeatEater, Eli Fournier discusses how scientists try to work out a extra helpful (and practical) use of the know-how:
Each summer time, trout streams within the West face scorching, low water situations, making for robust fishing—and typically deadly situations for trout. In Montana, famed trout streams just like the Huge Gap and Beaverhead are plagued with fishing restrictions and typically full-on closures in July and August. However what if there was a approach to nip the issue within the bud and enhance the general water provide to start with?
Researchers are exploring precisely that with a technique referred to as “cloud seeding.” The observe includes injecting a chemical compound, silver iodide, into the environment throughout winter months, the place it encourages the formation of ice crystals in clouds and subsequently will increase snowfall. A deeper snowpack can then lengthen runoff later into the summer time, maintaining trout streams cooler and extra productive.
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