Thursday 14 April 2016

The contrails left by airplanes flying at high attitudes

On  sunday  when i  visited
thecountryside , I came across Johnny, a farmer,basking at his farm field, watching a 'lonely' cloud drift away,
taking with it the last hope of a much-desired burst of rain.Feeling disappointed,he returns to his home fetches a can and heads to the almost drying river to at least get some water to irrigate on his farm.
   As he irrigates his farm he tells me an idea he once heard on radio of inducing  rain.He says that seeds are sprinkled on the clouds then rain is formed.I quickly interrupt him and say "Cloud Seeding?".."Kitu kama Hiyo."He responds.Cloud seeding is the process of inducing rain in areas struck by drought.Just like a farmer throws seeds to his farm,cloud seeding companies also throw 'seeds' but this time it maybe silver iodide, dry ice and various salts that acts as water droplet nuclei.Silver iodide is used to increase the ice concentration in the clouds.In the past,we've witnessed Russia practising the method.Like the infamous case when Russia threw bags of cement and sand into the clouds with the aim of enhancing precipitation following the upcoming public event.It failed and the outcome was displayed on "1000 ways to Die".The video was that of a pimp that fell a victim to the particles that failed to fragment.
   

 

HOW IT WORKS
When droplets of this super-cooled water in the air meet specks of dust, salt or sand, they form small ice crystals . Water vapour in the cloud then freezes directly onto the surface of these crystals. When these crystals become too heavy to stay afloat, they fall down as rain.

  Though the method has been common practised in nations like Russia, the method has been surrounded by controversy.For instance,the fear of polluting the masses with the silver iodide used.In the case a large amount of silver iodide is used,then chances of masses getting polluted are high.Also who knows,an innocent civilian may falla victim to the method.Think of it,the damage that would be caused if  the sand fails to fragment.
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This has also led to an uproar by conspiracy theorists which has led to the infamous Chemtrail conspiracy theory which argues that the contrails left by airplanes flying at high attitudes are harmful to the masses and fear that this could lead to adverse health effects on the masses.
All in all,anything involving chemicals has some adverse side effects 

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