2023-12-28 21:45:00
For the first time in its history, Pakistan has used “artificial rain” to combat devastating pollution. A technique which, although it hardly pleases environmental defenders, has been emulated around the world for several years now.
For a month, the eleven million inhabitants of Lahore have been masked to protect themselves from the fog of pollution which plagues the capital. The records are sad: the rate of fine particles (PM2.5) in the city is sixty-six times higher than the maximum threshold recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), and this is devastating the health of Pakistanis, adults and children. Between cancers, respiratory diseases and asthma, air pollution already reduces the life expectancy of residents by seven years, according to the WHO.
So the country’s authorities decided to act by seeding the clouds. The idea is as follows: use drones or planes to drop salt crystals into the clouds, which is supposed to encourage condensation and the formation of droplets, therefore the appearance of rain. As it falls, the latter should place the microparticles of pollution on the ground, so that the air would be more breathable at least for a moment.
India, Thailand, China, the Gulf countries and even the United States have already started using artificial rain. So much so that in the United Arab Emirates, scientific research competitions are organized to reward the most promising “rainmakers”.
Obviously, these initiatives do not rejoice environmental defenders. In the case of Pakistan, they instead urge the authorities to address the real causes of pollution, including low-end diesel and agricultural burning.
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