2023. December 16 – 23:04
Smog in Lahore – Photograph: Arif Ali/Agence France-Presse
For the first time in history, artificial rain was used in the huge, smog-plagued Pakistani city of Lahore, with a population of 11 million. Agence France-Presse reports. In the first experiment of its kind conducted in the South Asian country, planes equipped with cloud projectors flew over the ten smokiest parts of the city.
Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that improves a cloud’s ability to produce rain. The clouds are seeded by aircraft, using salt particles that have a strong ability to bind to water. Molecules of sodium chloride and potassium chloride attract small water droplets within the cloud. These elements combine to form larger raindrops that fall from the sky due to their greater weight.
The Free Fire Launcher arrived from UAE 10-12 days ago. Cloud seeding has recently been increasingly used in the UAE to bring rain to dry areas of the country.
In Lahore, it is not the dry weather, but the smog that requires the use of cloud seeding machines. According to experts, even very modest rainfall is effective in reducing pollution.
The smog situation in the city has worsened in recent years. A combination of diesel fumes from cars, industrial smoke, and cold winter air usually combine to form stagnant clouds of smog.
The level of PM2.5 pollutants – tiny, cancer-causing particles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs – was measured as extremely dangerous in Lahore on Saturday.
The tools showed more than 66 times the maximum risk set by the World Health Organization. According to the organization, long-term exposure can cause stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory disease.
So far, successive governments have adopted various approaches to reduce air pollution in Lahore. They sprayed roads with water, and closed schools, factories and markets on weekends, but they did not have much success. More use of artificial rain is now expected.
