JEDDAH, 3 June 2008 — The Kingdom will soon carry out its fifth experiment of the cloud physics project that aims at generating artificial rain. The experiment is scheduled for the end of this month in Abha where the first two experiments took place, said Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) spokesman Hussain Al-Qahtani.
The third and fourth tests were carried out in Riyadh. Al-Qahtani dismissed media reports concerning the dangers of chemicals used in the experiment, calling the reports “baseless.”
Chemicals used in the cloud seeding process include calcium chloride and silver iodide. The process involves airplanes dropping the chemicals in the clouds in order to induce rain.
Water shortages in the Kingdom have recently forced the country to stop cultivation of a number of crops. The Kingdom is largely a desert environment and rarely gets seasonal rain showers.
“The Kingdom has taken on the project where other countries left off,” explained Al-Qahtani. He said 37 countries had carried out the experiment without any registered environmental complications.
The American Weather Modification Inc., the company carrying out the program, has conducted the experiment in 11 US states without any complications or environmental damage because of the chemicals used, Al-Qahtani said.
He added that the presidency had obtained the required documentation attesting to the fact that the chemical substances used do not harm the environment. “Furthermore, the presidency has conducted its own independent tests at King Abdulaziz University and King Abdulaziz Center for Science and Technology,” he added.
Al-Qahtani said the project also included a committee of 27 scientists who are continually studying the possible long- and short-term environmental effects of cloud seeding.
The project is still in the experimental phase and will not be officially launched until it proves its success scientifically and achieves its set targets, he added.
