The weather on planet Earth is a vital and sometimes fatal force in human affairs. Efforts to control or reduce the harmful impacts of weather go back far in time. In this, the latest National Academies' assessment of weather modification, the committee was asked to assess the ability of current and proposed weather modification capabilities to provide beneficial impacts on water resource management and weather hazard mitigation. It examines new technologies, reviews advances in numerical modeling on the cloud and mesoscale, and considers how improvements in computer capabilities might be applied to weather modification. Critical Issues in Weather Modification Research examines the status of the science underlying weather modification in the United States. It calls for a coordinated national research program to answer fundamental questions about basic atmospheric processes and to address other issues that are impeding progress in weather modification.

Weather modification, although a relatively young science, has over the years stimulated great interest within the scientific, commercial, governmental and agricultural communities.This is an extremely thorough and scholarly report prepared by the Congressional Research Service in 1978. Substantial material on almost all areas of weather modification are included and the report provides an excellent reference source. The study reviews the history, technology, activities, and a number of special aspects of the field of weather modification. Consideration is given to international, legal, economic, and ecological aspects. There are also an introductory chapter which includes a summary of issues, a chapter discussing inadvertent weather and climate modification, and a chapter summarizing recommendations from major Federal policy studies.

This dialogue between scientists and lawyers builds on the issues identified at the 1976 Conference on the Legal and Scientific Uncertainties of Weather Modification held at Duke University. It provides an in-depth consideration of the prospects for a usable weather modification technology in the near future and of the legal problems that will be r

Weather Modification by Cloud Seeding