Saturday, February 17, 2007
Makin' Rain
As you can imagine I have been checking out the news that is coming out of Tanzania; I set up an RSS feed so I can get all the news that Google finds about the country. Reading the interesting news gives us an idea of what is going on and if there are any concerns. I have a couple of concerns but nothing too distressing. If you know me well you know that I am not a soccer fan and much of the news from Tanzania is regarding different aspects of the different National teams and school teams, "New Coach named, Tanzania Takes it to Nairobi, 3 to nil in a Kicking of Kenya". The number of Soccer-related headlines concerns me that we will have to take up soccer while we are away. But the more disturbing headlines relate to "making rain".
Tanzania has had a history of periodic severe droughts which reek havoc on both crops and live stock. Last year saw such a drought that left millions on the brink of starvation, many cattle dead and an unprecedented disruption to the supply of electricity. In a bid to avoid such a drought in the future Tanzania has sought to gain some technology that would enable the ministry of agriculture to...make rain. In a highly unexpected move the King of Thailand has granted, his own ministry of agriculture , permission to provide his rain-making technology to the Tanzanians. I know what you're thinking and I'm with you. Apparently it is much more complicated than a simple rain dance. Though you may still see a video, at some point, of us out dancing in the dust so we can get some rain on our garden.
The actual method does involve science, chemicals and aircraft or artillery. I am not a hundred percent certain that this is best for the environment of Tanzania. Cloud-seeding as it is called is when one injects foreign materials into clouds in the hope that it will cause them to release some rain. The upside is obvious; rain where you want it when you want it. Questions arise however about the potential downside. What effect will targeted rain have on the natural weather patterns? What will happen to the ecology of the affected areas? What effect does Silver Iodide (the chemical often used in cloud seeding) have on the flora and fauna?
I suppose we'll see which method works best in the months to come. I suspect there is a better chance of me doing a rain dance than seeding clouds...but you never know.
Tanzania has had a history of periodic severe droughts which reek havoc on both crops and live stock. Last year saw such a drought that left millions on the brink of starvation, many cattle dead and an unprecedented disruption to the supply of electricity. In a bid to avoid such a drought in the future Tanzania has sought to gain some technology that would enable the ministry of agriculture to...make rain. In a highly unexpected move the King of Thailand has granted, his own ministry of agriculture , permission to provide his rain-making technology to the Tanzanians. I know what you're thinking and I'm with you. Apparently it is much more complicated than a simple rain dance. Though you may still see a video, at some point, of us out dancing in the dust so we can get some rain on our garden.
The actual method does involve science, chemicals and aircraft or artillery. I am not a hundred percent certain that this is best for the environment of Tanzania. Cloud-seeding as it is called is when one injects foreign materials into clouds in the hope that it will cause them to release some rain. The upside is obvious; rain where you want it when you want it. Questions arise however about the potential downside. What effect will targeted rain have on the natural weather patterns? What will happen to the ecology of the affected areas? What effect does Silver Iodide (the chemical often used in cloud seeding) have on the flora and fauna?I suppose we'll see which method works best in the months to come. I suspect there is a better chance of me doing a rain dance than seeding clouds...but you never know.
