“Cloud seeding can provide between 5% and 15% more snow to help ski areas, farmers and watersheds in the state, supporters say.”
You might not have realized it but cloud seeding has been happening for about 70 years in Colorado. Denver7 reports cloud seeding doesn’t actually make more clouds but supporters believe it gets more snow out of an approaching storm.
There are various ways to cloud seed including flying planes near moisture-rich clouds and injecting them with silver iodide and ground seeding using propane to heat the air which is a popular method in the mountains and Western Slope.
Supporters say for every $1 in cost $3 worth of water is generated but not everyone is a fan. Gary Wockner’s non-profit, Save The Colorado, aims to stop development that slows the Colorado River. Gary had this to say about seeding:
“There’s kind of this mad scientist concept that we can change the weather, manipulate nature, to get everything we need. Nature has provided what we need; we just don’t use it. We need to use it smarter and more efficiently.”
What do you think, should Colorado continue cloud seeding operations or give it a rest?
