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There's a fascinating article on Atlas Obscura which looks at the work of weather modification companies:
The article looks at the work of the pilots involved, the methods they use, and the evidence for the effectiveness of the approach.
The strange tropical ocean-colored clouds indicate light reflecting off bits of ice in the storm's core. This means hail, a potential death sentence for farmers like Mrnak, whose 6,000 acres of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower lie striped across picturesque rolling plains in the state's southwestern corner, near a region of rugged hills called the Badlands. "We've had hailstorms here where there is nothing left," says Mrnak. "It will take the crop completely down—down to the ground." In mere minutes, millions of dollars of plant material, including the delicate kernels, which aid in reproduction, can be smashed to bits. It's a crop's version of death by stoning.
The job of pilots like Royal is to fly directly at monstrous thunderstorms—something most pilots diligently avoid, given that the turbulent airflow in these storms occasionally brings down commercial jetliners—and discharge chemicals into a particular part of the cloud, a technique called "cloud seeding" intended to suppress the storm's ability to produce hail.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by Gravis on Friday November 20 2015, @08:12PM
hail, a potential death sentence for farmers like Mrnak
unless we are talking about hail so large it could literally kill him, it's hyperbolic to say the destruction of his crops is a death sentence.
fuck you very much.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by jdavidb on Friday November 20 2015, @08:45PM
unless we are talking about hail so large it could literally kill him, it's hyperbolic to say the destruction of his crops is a death sentence.
Certainly, but it's obviously a situation, and many people would feel hyperbole might be warranted. Subsistence farmers the world over are only one bad season away from life-threatening disaster. I don't see the need to cuss people out over it.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 1, Redundant) by jdavidb on Friday November 20 2015, @08:46PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Saturday November 21 2015, @12:17AM
Subsistence farmers the world over are only one bad season away from life-threatening disaster. I don't see the need to cuss people out over it.
Certainly, but it's obviously a serious situation, and many people would feel cussing might be warranted.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by jdavidb on Saturday November 21 2015, @12:55AM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 21 2015, @02:01PM
unless we are talking about hail so large it could literally kill him, it's hyperbolic to say the destruction of his crops is a death sentence.
Sure it is but severe financial losses can reduce your life expectancy significantly.
Furthermore:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100739419 [cnbc.com]
Debt racked up by American farmers threatens to throw the agriculture industry out of its current economic boom and into a bust, according to a new study.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/terezia-farkas/why-farmer-suicide-rates-_1_b_5610279.html [huffingtonpost.com]
In the U.S. the rate of farmer suicides is just under two times that of the general population. In the U.K. one farmer a week commits suicide.
What do farmers get tempted to do when they are severely in debt and bankrupt? If you're a farmer living in a farm and your farm goes bankrupt and gets taken from you, where can you go? Do you think a neighboring farm will give them a job? When people run out of good options they might pick other options.
It's not like people already living in a city where if they lose their jobs they might still find work waiting tables, washing dishes etc, or know a friend who knows a friend etc.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by darkfeline on Saturday November 21 2015, @02:36PM
>What do farmers get tempted to do when they are severely in debt and bankrupt?
They might decide to put their pitchforks to use elsewhere.
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