A high tide on Sunday evening pushes the river higher as the rising ocean water effectively holds back the freshwater. Once such cloud encounters the ice nucleation particles, they rapidly form a large number of ice crystals and bypass the liquid water phase. Prof Stuart Khan, an expert on water management at the University of New South Wales, says Wivenhoe gained about 1,450 billion litres of water, which all came in under three days. Our topic today is cloud seeding to increase rainfall. Some conspiracy theorists have been sharing a 2016 news report from the Australian TV network 7News - which has now been watched thousands of times. However, Dr. Zou explains, The cloud-seeding materials used today have been around for many decades. Four police officers knocked down the former bodybuilder's door when he refused to open it, claiming they didn't have authorisation to be on the property. Why Is the Government Cloud Seeding in NSW's Over the Areas That Have Just Been Ravaged by Floods? Australia's path towards Agenda 2030. The fact that the damage and loss of life were so great this time is due to the fact that many more people live in . The unsubstantiated claims have been spreading at a concerning rate on social media, with thousands seemingly convinced the record rain in northern NSW and Queensland are a 'man made' phenomenon. Cloud seeding aims to protect flood-hit Jakarta. This shows us the risk is real to have two serious flood events in just 11 years is a pretty high frequency for a major city like Brisbane to have to deal with.. upcoming events, and more. What kind of effect can cloud seeding potentially have on a country, like the UAE, which typically only records four inches of rain in a year? They remain as vapors in the air and move higher and further. BBC. Dr. Zou: It is a challenge area and I have collaborated with the Cloud Microphysics Modeling International team. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Often they require minus 25 degrees or even lower. Nobody has ever seen this amount of rain in such a short period of time over our south-east catchment, says the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk. Cloud seeding is a real thing. So, what is cloud seeding, how does it work and where is it used in Australia? For general feedback and enquiries, please contact us through our Help Desk. one wrote. Under NSW legislation, Snowy Hydro can only cloud seed when precipitation is likely to fall as snow to elevations below 1,400 metres. The United Arab Emirates is creating its own rain using drones that fly into clouds and unleash electrical charges to beat the sweltering 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) heat. These fall to the ground as snow or raindrops, depending on the surface temperatures. There are up to 15,000 homes flooded in the city, with 1,544 people in evacuation centres in the south-east. Laurel: Could you describe that weather chamber that you used in your experiments? "They needed a shoulder to cry on and hear their story. Source: Snowy Hydro. As the water spreads to northern New South Wales, how did the so-called rain bomb develop? It's obvious when viewed on the radar.'. Laurel: Then in the real world where we don't have this controlled chamber, it's not quite as easy necessarily to measure that kind of success. As a result, flooding this time has been much more extensive from small creeks and large rivers, he says. The clip is unrelated to recent floods in Australia, however, and dates . The more people who know about this bulls**t the better.'. Pilots get "really violent" threats after online rumors wrongly pin devastating floods on cloud seeding. Atmospheric water is one such alternative resource. The first three months of 2022 brought a year's worth of rain to Sydney. The previous record was 600.4mm in 1974. Often, a compound like Silver Iodine (AgI) is used as the particulate matter, as it is naturally occurring in the world in low concentrations. cloud seeding, cloud seeding rain in dubai, cloud seeding technology, cloud seeding explained, cloud seeding gone wrong, cloud seeding rain, cloud seeding ro. Get in touch. Yes, such type of applications. Ice nucleation is important. The conventional cloud seeding material can only be activated at a very high relative humidity in atmosphere in the cloud, such as greater than 75% relative humidity. The tiny vapors rise into the atmosphere without condensation nuclei, which are small particles. There is no evidence to prove cloud seeding affected the flood. The first cloud seeding trials were carried out by Kraus and Squires (1947) near Sydney. Dr. Zou: Yes. So it has a huge possibility to improve its efficiency. If experts complete seeding at the right time, it leads to more moisture supply, which will eventually create rainwater. NSW's Snowy Mountains region. And two Middle East rivals - the United . But a probe by the Tasmanian government into the 2016 flooding has since been completed, and investigators and expert atmospheric scientists found that cloud seeding by Hydro Tasmania, a government-owned generator of renewable energy, did not contribute to or worsen the heavy rains. 27 Jul 2022, 11:08 AM UTC Cloud seeding in Australia. The silver iodide causes water droplets in the clouds to form ice crystals that become heavier and fall faster, releasing precipitation. Do you have a story for me? - Ukraine - Cloud Seeding (Weather & Flooding) - Testing on Oz Military personnel - Publicly Funded Private Dams - Australian Children Saved from Paedophile Ring - Governor General - Joe Biden - Pfizer - Reserve Bank - Clinton Foundation - Canberra Rallies. For the third time this year, Sydney has been hit by major floods. They vary in size. Today, that endeavor is making incredible leaps and bounds as scientists and engineers apply nanotechnology to improve the effectiveness of cloud seeding. That hasn't stopped some TikTok users from denouncing "weather engineering". Conspiracy theorists spread the false claims on social media after weeks of torrential rains led to deadly east coast floods over the past two months, engulfing homes and sweeping cars from the roads. Dr. Zou: As we know, the global water shortage has continuously intensified by rapid population growth and economic development around the world. Where did it go wrong. Conventional water resources such as rivers, lakes, and groundwater have become very limited, which is driving scientists and engineers to look for alternative water resources. Cloud seeding is a real thing. This podcast is produced in partnership with the UAE Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai. Handel Aviation posted a statement in response calling the claims misinformation and denying that it conducts cloud seeding flights, stating that it only operates an aerial photography aircraft. At 10pm, Seqwater starts to release some of the water building up in Wivenhoe Dam. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania saw very low rainfall, around 26 percent below the average for March 2022. But others were distressed, telling the experienced pilot they had lost everything during the floods and thought the company was responsible. Snowy Hydro also has other criteria for cloud seeding which includes; In addition to these atmospheric conditions, Snowy Hydro also takes into account the amount of water already in the landscape. out 'cloud seeding' - a weather . There is no evidence to back up such theories, but this hasn't prevented falsehoods from reaching thousands of people online. This is part of APs effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. In the 1950s, another scientist named Bernard Vonnegut proposed his cloud seeding idea in which he noted that clouds need other particles like bacteria or algae to produce precipitation. The flight was collecting images for aerial maps provided to Australian mapping company NearMap, he said. It was a wall of water. Conspiracy theorists claim the floods devastating Australia's east coast are a 'government weather warfare attack' triggered by 'chemtrails' James Bartolo, former Melbourne anti-lockdown leader . Another added: 'Absolutely nothing natural about the rainfall in the past 5 months. The photograph shows two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) DC-3 planes flying above some cumulus clouds. Torrential rain hovers over the Brisbane region, feeding Wivenhoe Dam but also filling major rivers like the Bremer that winds through Ipswich and the Lockyer Creek. The increased snowfall can also benefit ski resorts within the cloud seeding areas. Cloud seeding programs in the upper Colorado River Basin, for instance, cost around $1.5 million each year. EPA. This nanoengineered shell core structured material can be activated at much broader relative humidity conditions such as about 65%. The government can also provide flood insurance for the people. Cloud seeding was conducted a day before the recent floods in Australia. Most research has found that AgI, when dispersed in cloud seeding, has no adverse health effects on the environment. A really strong storm, she explained, will already have a very strong updraft and windflow characteristics that help create the cloud to begin with. Australia One Party (A1) - Update March 3, 2022. A planned factory marks a major milestone in the US for new batteries that enable lower-cost, longer-lasting EVs. In Gympie, the towns central business district is inundated. Once this water is released from the hydropower lakes, downstream river catchments can also benefit from increased water to irrigate crops. They say it's all part of a government plan to "weaponise" the weather against its own people - a popular conspiracy trope that has been around for years. Could you explain in more detail how cloud seeding works? Conventional water resources such as rivers, lakes, and groundwater have become very limited, which is driving scientists and engineers to look for alternative water resources, says Dr. Linda Zou, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Khalifa University of Science and Technology. Thanks for listening. Smart Cities World Forum. The colors depict the wetness percentile; that is, how the levels of groundwater compare to long-term records (1948-2012). A record-breaking and relentless deluge that lasted days and flooded towns and cities along Queenslands south-east coast, submerging thousands of homes and leaving at least nine people dead. After extensive testing, the CSIRO has determined that cloud seeding is unlikely to be effective in much of Australia. The condensation nuclei that give birth to clouds are extremely small, measuring around two micrometres, which is about 1/100th the size of a single cloud droplet. If we had started where we started from in 2011 we would be in serious trouble.. There is devastation in northern NSW as Wilsons River rises two metres above previous flood records, inundating the town of Lismore. Feast to Famine: Mass Floods and Australia's High-Speed Rail. The U.S. has a long history of cloud seeding, and gained a lot of attention in October of 1947 when it cloud seeded a hurricane. 7.4 Cloud seeding from a plane uses silver iodide burners, dry ice pellets or hygroscopic flares. Top Stories. concerns about cloud seeding were raised in relation to the 2022 Lismore and South-East Queensland floods. Because the coated nanolayers are more hydrophilic and porous, the water can be absorbed easily and increase the local relative humidity of the crystals and increase the probability of forming water droplets. Laurel Ruma: From MIT Technology Review, I'm Laurel Ruma, and this is Business Lab. A subtropical climate naturally suited to big rain events and a city and suburbs built beside rivers and creeks in front of mountain ranges. Brisbane wakes up to major flooding. Leverage advanced weather intelligence and decisioning tools for your enterprise business. Pictured: Large parts of Lismore in NSW are completely underwater after record rainfall, Hundreds replied to the post with messages claiming 'the government' is using experimental technology to carry out 'cloud seeding'. Additionally, silver iodide, a common agent . On March 30, 2022, BBC News reported that thousands of people had to evacuate their homes due to a severe flood on the east coast of Australia. The claim is false. As well as the rising river levels, the amount of rain falling locally causes flash floods all across the city and its outer suburbs as creeks swell, inundating areas that escaped the 2011 floods. Cloud is an effective and safe way to enhance rain and snowfalls above natural levels. This temperature is much higher than most other known ice nucleate material. Cloud seeding can use either ground based generators and / or aviation for operations. The river peaks overnight at the major flood level of 3.5m, falls slightly after the high tide, and goes higher to eventually peak on Monday at 3.85m below the 2011 peak of 4.46m. As floods devastated Australia's east coast, social media posts accused a pilot of causing the disaster through cloud seeding, a weather modification technique that involves dropping a rain-inducing chemical into clouds. A La Nia develops when strong winds blow the warm surface waters of the Pacific away from South America and towards Indonesia. While scientists have blamed the. A spokesman for the state's water authority says the dam doesn't have a flood mitigation component, so no water was released ahead of the downpour, which came when the state's dam network . one follower wrote. And yet, this myth seems to have found an audience on various social media platforms. At least 3,600 homes are flooded in Gympie. Why have certain communities been targeted with geoengineered weather? So they form super cool vapor and crystallize into ice particles. Theres a small one, a medium one, and a large one. Dr. Zou: The cloud seeding materials used today have been around for many decades. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. It's very promising to know more about the effects of this seeding material. Others pointed to terms used in media coverage as proof the floods were part of an 'attack' and not natural. Could this all just be a . Archives of Handel Aviations website dating back to 2008 show that cloud seeding services have never been mentioned or offered on its site and there is no evidence that the company has been involved with the process. The flight path of the Handel Aviation aircraft VH-JIL criss-crossing over flooded areas was also shared online by Australian fashion designer Alice McCall alongside claims it was dropping chemicals to "activate rain.". Greta Thunberg joins activists' protest against a wind farm in Norway, Stronger hurricanes threaten homes even away from the coasts, Venice canals run dry as lingering weather system impacts tide cycles, Climate change is making winter weather warmer and "weirder". About this record. "The idea that this is happening on a widespread scale, and that there is some motive to manipulate the weather is a complete myth," says Dr Ella Gilbert, a climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. Iran has already accused Israel of stealing its water by using cloud-seeding that reduces rainfall over its territory. 4m ago. To help advance the science, in 2015 the UAE government launched a new initiative, the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science. The language they are using such as "rain bombs" is clear enough for me,' a commenter said. 'I have known for years they have been using this technology!' Prof Bofu Yu, of Griffith Universitys Australian Rivers Institute, says in 2011 rainfall was concentrated in the west and not as widespread as the current flooding. Laurel: Back to your technology, you filed a patent on the cloud seeding material itself. What are you working on now, and what are you thinking about next? What are the challenges with then deploying the material out in the real world? China, which already artificially alters its weather over major cities, plans to be able to modify weather over half its territory by 2025, to the alarm of neighbours including India. Siems, a professor who leads a Monash University team studying clouds and precipitation, said the practice is not conducted in the Northern Rivers region and it cannot cause flooding. March 28, 2022. The flooding in October 2022 is the latest in a series of major floods to affect eastern Australia since unusually wet conditions began in early 2021. Today, together with the National Center of Meteorology of the UAE, we can see the application of these new seeding materials in real operations very quickly across UAE to increase the rainfall. In the midst of an historic megadrought, states in the American West are embracing cloud seeding to increase snow and rainfall. A dangerous and bizarre conspiracy theory is circulating that the devastating floods which have torn through Australia's . James Bartolo, a prominent former Melbourne anti-lockdown activist and Covid denier, promoted the bizarre, false explanation on his Facebook page. The United Arab Emirates have been hit particularly hard by this season's sweltering heat, recording a 51.8C this June (that . 'Cloud seeding is being used to increase rainfall by corrupt governments to act on mother nature. Compared with the floods of 2011, Khan says this is about 50% more water into the dam in about half of the time. Some social media users are spreading false theories about what has caused multiple floods in Australia in recent years. It was not written by MIT Technology Reviews editorial staff. It never developed in . The global water shortage has continuously intensified by rapid population growth and economic development around the world. As you know, cold clouds with sub-zero temperatures are also present in the atmosphere. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The small one could be 20 meters and the large one could be like a building. Large areas of south-east Queensland are placed under a warning for intense rainfall and thunderstorms that will cause flooding. On Tuesday morning evacuation orders are issued for South Ballina. Messaging from rooftops: Lismores flooded residents document a disaster, Eastern Australian states hit by major flooding after rain bomb weather event, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Eastern Australia reeling from NSW and Queensland 2022 floods as downpour moves south video report, NSWdeath toll rises to five; more high impact storms forecast for Queensland as it happened, Australia east coast floods: how to help those affected in NSW and Queensland, There is no comprehending the sound and fury of the flooding that pulverised Brisbane, A jetski turned up with Mick Fanning on it: world champion surfer ferries locals through NSW floods, Ballina flood: thousands of homes impacted with peak to continue for a number of hours, Sydney on high alert for flash flooding over next 24 hours as heavy rain lashes city, Floods and livestock losses leave NSW and Queensland farmers reeling from third disaster in three years, Flood of help: how the NSW and Queensland disaster has brought neighbours closer together, Disaster agency defends not listing Lismore as flooding priority area for funding, NSW and Qld floods live updates latest eastern Australia flood news, Ballina: emergency orders issued for NSW coastal town as waters rise, Lismore man saves 16 people and five dogs after losing his own home, Flash flood warning for parts of Sydney and nearby districts, evacuation orders are issued for South Ballina. 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