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November 20, 2018

Artificial rain to curb Delhi pollution? Government weighing option to fight worsening air condition

Financial Express references AQLI study in discussions of cloud seeding

With Delhi experiencing the worst ever phase of air pollution, the government is considering to seed clouds to cause artificial rain and provide Delhiites with some much-needed relief. “If the situation worsens then the option of ‘cloud seeding’ to induce rainfall artificially, as an immediate step can be considered,” Mahesh Sharma, MoS Environment, told ANI today.

Cloud seeding a process to help create artificial rain. The drops are generally much larger than normal monsoon rain. In this process, scientists use rocket launcher or aircraft to inject Silver Iodide into the atmosphere to mimic ice nuclei. In the atmosphere, feldspar particles act as ice nuclei that make ice crystals grow in clouds and thus rain is caused.

Meanwhile, the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) has said that India is the world’s second most polluted country. Particulate pollution is so severe that it shortens the average life expectancy by more than 4 years.

Continue reading at Financial Express…