Weather‐climate modification

Although modern efforts to modify weather date from 1946, the field of weather modification is separately described in this quadrennial report for the first time. Nevertheless, the scope of the remarks which follow is confined, insofar as possible, to developments from 1971 to 1974; for those outside meteorology, attention is drawn to several works which describe the background and early work in the field [ McDonald , 1958; Mason , 1961; Battan , 1969; Droessler , 1972; Hess , 1974]. During the past 4 yr, activities in this field have come to embrace studies of what has happened or is happening to the weather and climate as a result of human activities not intended to alter the weather, as well as experiments and operations designed to alter atmospheric phenomena. Furthermore, in addition to physical and technical studies of deliberate and inadvertent weather modification by meteorologists, mathematicians, physicists, chemists, and engineers, many concurrent investigations have recently been undertaken of the implications of weather modification, involving the fields of geography, ecology, economics, law, political science, and sociology. The latter endeavors are ultimately for the purpose of providing guidance in the formulation of public policy in regard to weather modification, which can have profound implications for society under modern population and technological conditions. While some sort of ‘atmospheric management’ is coming to be regarded as a necessity for the future, scientists are beginning to raise questions about the wisdom of projecting climate control as a goal. A recent article weighing the pros and cons of the idea of climate stabilization [ Kellogg and Schneider , 1974] concludes that at the least, an important social goal is the development, through interdisciplinary studies, of the ability to understand and anticipate natural, inadvertent, and purposeful climate change and its social consequences.