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News India Live, Digital Desk: To get rid of the suffocating pollution of Delhi, a very popular experiment was recently conducted – Cloud Seeding, i.e. an attempt to create artificial rain. The plan was that a special kind of chemical would be sprayed in the clouds from the airplane, which would cause rain and the poison floating in the air would be washed away. But, the result of this experiment is quite surprising. There was no rain in Delhi, but a slight decline in pollution levels was recorded in some areas.
So the first question: why didn’t it rain?
The answer lies in the simple science of weather. According to scientists at IIT Kanpur, any attempt at artificial rain can be successful only when there is sufficient moisture in the clouds – at least 50 percent. But at the time this experiment was conducted, the moisture level in the clouds above Delhi was only 10 to 20 percent.
Understand it like this, you cannot squeeze an almost dry towel and expect water from it. Similarly, it was not possible to make rain from dry clouds, and that is why this attempt failed.
When there was no rain, how did pollution decrease?
This is the most interesting part of this whole experiment. Even though the spraying did not cause rain, the chemicals like silver iodide and salt released from the aircraft acted as a magnet for pollutant particles (PM2.5) present in the air. Small particles of pollution stuck to these chemical particles, due to which they became heavy and slowly started settling towards the ground.
According to the data, in areas like Mayur Vihar, Karol Bagh and Burari, where the spraying was concentrated, PM2.5 levels came down from 221-230 micrograms per cubic meter to 203-207. This was not a huge fall and its effect also lasted only for a few hours. However, very light drizzle of 0.1 to 0.2 mm was recorded in nearby Noida and Greater Noida.
Is this a permanent solution to pollution?
Experts clearly believe that cloud seeding is a very expensive and temporary solution. The cost of this one experiment is in lakhs, and its effect also lasts for a few hours. Even if it had rained, the pollution level would have gone back to where it was in a day or two. The real solution is to tackle the root causes of pollution, such as vehicle exhaust, emissions from industries and stubble burning.
This experiment may be important as a scientific test, but it is not a permanent cure for the poison present in Delhi’s breath.