Politics
India’s Cloud Seeding Trials Criticized as ‘Costly Spectacle’
India’s attempt to tackle New Delhi’s toxic air by using cloud seeding appears to have produced disappointing results, with scientists and activists questioning whether the costly experiment was worth it.
Cloud seeding — a process in which aircraft spray particles such as silver iodide or salt into clouds to induce rainfall is intended to help wash pollutants out of the atmosphere.
Authorities in Delhi, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, began the trials last week using a Cessna aircraft over parts of the capital.
However, officials said the initial tests yielded minimal rainfall due to limited cloud cover.
“This will never do the job it’s an illusion,” said environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari. “We can only control air pollution by addressing its sources, not by chasing clouds.”
Local media reported that the government has spent around $364,000 on the project so far.
Each winter, a thick blanket of smog envelops Delhi and its 30 million residents, as cold air traps emissions from vehicle exhaust, factory smoke, and crop burning in nearby states.
Despite various government efforts including vehicle restrictions, anti-smog towers, and mist-spraying trucks Delhi consistently ranks among the world’s most polluted capitals.
Following the latest cloud seeding attempt, levels of PM2.5 the fine particles linked to heart and lung disease reached 323 micrograms per cubic meter, over 20 times the World Health Organization’s safe daily limit.
A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health last year estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were associated with air pollution exposure.
Questions also remain about the environmental impact of cloud seeding chemicals.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says limited research suggests silver iodide poses little risk to human health or the environment, but acknowledges that the long-term effects of widespread use remain unclear.
Research process
Environmental activists say even if cloud seeding produces rain, the benefits are short-lived.
Climate scientist Daniele Visioni at Cornell University said it was unclear how efficient it was in heavy polluted conditions.
“It can’t create rain where there is no moisture in the air, but it just ‘forces’ some of the water to condense in one location rather than another,” he told AFP.
“There is only one thing that can sensibly reduce pollution: avoiding the burning of fossil fuels.”
Virendra Sachdeva, from Delhi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said it was too early to dismiss the cloud seeding experiment as a “scientific failure”.
“It is a part of the research process, and success is not always achieved in the first attempt,” he told reporters.
However, two atmospheric scientists at IIT Delhi called the cloud seeding plan “another gimmick”.
“It is a textbook case of science misapplied and ethics ignored,” Shahzad Gani and Krishna Achutarao wrote in The Hindu newspaper.
Mohan George, from the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said artificial rain was not the answer.
“The levels of pollution will come back almost immediately as rain stops,” the scientist told AFP.
When it does work, it will increase precipitation in one area — while potentially decreasing it for another.
Costly spectacle
Cloud seeding, first developed in the 1940s, has been used in various countries to induce rain, clear fog, and reduce drought, but with mixed results.
China used it during the 2008 Beijing Olympics in an attempt to control the weather.
Gani and Achutarao said Delhi’s pollution causes — unchecked emissions and seasonal crop burning — are well known.
So too are the solutions cleaner fuel, better waste management and stricter enforcement of rules.
“Instead of reinforcing these priorities, parts of the scientific ecosystem researchers, advisors, and institutions — are lending credibility to a costly spectacle that will do little to address the sources of the crisis,” they said.
- Authorities urge residents to stay away from coastal areas.
- Tsunami waves of up to 3 metres (9.84 ft) expected.
- Biggest waves expected in Iwate, Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck off the northeastern coast of Japan on Monday, as authorities urged residents to stay away from coastal areas where tsunami waves of up to 3 metres (9.84 ft) were expected.
The tremor had an epicentre in the Pacific Ocean and was 10km deep, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The biggest waves were expected in Iwate, Aomori and Hokkaido prefectures, authorities said.
Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the government had set up an emergency task force and urged citizens in the affected areas to evacuate to safety.
Broadcaster NHK showed ships sailing out of Hachinohe port in Hokkaido in anticipation of the waves, as an alert ‘Tsunami! Evacuate!’ flashed across the screen.
Bullet train services in Aomori at the northern tip of Japan’s main Honshu island were halted due to the tremors, Kyodo news agency reported.
The quake measured an ‘upper 5’ on Japan’s seismic intensity scale — strong enough to make it difficult for people to move around. In many cases, unreinforced concrete-block walls collapse.
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, with a tremor occurring at least every five minutes. Located in the “Ring of Fire” of volcanoes and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin, Japan accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or more.
There are no nuclear power plants currently in operation in Hokkaido and Tohoku regions, but Hokkaido Electric Power and Tohoku Electric Power have a number of shutdown nuclear power plants there. Tohoku Electric said it was checking the impact of the earthquake and tsunami on its Onagawa nuclear power plant.
US forces killed three men whom the military described as illicit drug smugglers in a strike on a boat in the Caribbean, US Southern Command said on Sunday.
Southern Command posted what it said was a video of the strike on the social media platform X, showing an explosion of a small boat travelling on open water.
The boat was travelling on “known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean,” Southern Command said.
The US military has so far killed 157 alleged members or affiliates of drug organisations in 45 strikes against drug trafficking vessels in the Western Hemisphere, a senior US defence official said last month.
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as leader of the United Nations, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis.
Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, and Senegal’s Macky Sall will each face grillings by 193 member states and NGOs for three hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It is only the second time the UN has held a public Q&A, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency.
Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the global organisation as its secretary-general.
US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Manhattan-based UN, Mike Waltz, has warned the next chief must align with “American values and interests” and that Washington would back the best candidate — not necessarily a Latin American woman, as some countries are demanding.
All four candidates to take over the embattled UN when Guterres departs on December 31, 2026 pledge to grow trust in the bitterly divided organisation that faces financial Armageddon because of Washington’s refusal to pay its bills.
Here is a look at the contenders:
Michelle Bachelet
A Chilean socialist brutally tortured by the regime of Augusto Pinochet, Bachelet became her country’s first woman president in 2006.
She went on to be the UN rights chief, a sensitive role in which she alienated some countries, especially China, which mauled her for reporting on alleged abuses of the Uyghur people.
Bachelet, 74, has said that she is “convinced” she has the experience “to confront a moment” marked by unprecedented crises and conflicts.
She is backed by Mexico and Brazil — but Chile withdrew its backing after far-right President Jose Antonio Kast took office.
Rafael Grossi
The 65-year-old Grossi, a career diplomat, has led the International Atomic Energy Agency since 2019, propelling him into the middle of the battle over Iran’s nuclear programme as well as the Russian occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
His handling of the two situations has drawn close scrutiny from the United States and Russia, which both have veto power on the Security Council.
Grossi has called for the UN to “return to its founding promise — to save humanity from the scourge of war.”
Rebeca Grynspan
Less well-known than her opponents, Grynspan — Costa Rica’s former vice president — leads the UN trade and development body UNCTAD, pulling off a diplomatic feat by brokering the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Moscow and Kyiv to allow grain exports following Russia’s invasion.
In her pitch to world leaders, the 70-year-old plays up her personal story as the daughter of Jewish parents.
She said they “barely survived” the Holocaust before emigrating to Costa Rica, stressing her attachment to the UN Charter, calling the document signed as World War II came to an end a “standing warning against the perils of dehumanisation, distrust and fragmentation.”
Macky Sall
Macky Sall, 64, is the only candidate who does not come from Latin America, from where the next UN boss should come, according to convention.
The former Senegalese president has stressed the link between peace and development in his pitch to lead the UN.
He said peace can never be “sustainable” if development is undermined “by poverty, inequality, exclusion and climate vulnerability.”
Proposed by Burundi, the current chair of the African Union, Sall is supported neither by the regional African bloc — 20 of its 55 members oppose him — nor by his own country.
Senegalese authorities accuse him of bloodily repressing violent political demonstrations that left dozens dead between 2021 and 2024.
‘Saturday Night Live’ alum Tina Fey admits past jokes missed the mark
There’s New Evidence for How Loneliness Affects Memory in Old Age
Prince William’s ally Robert Irwin rejects Prince Harry, Meghan offer
-
Fashion4 days agoFrance’s LVMH Q1 revenue falls 6%, shows resilience amid Iran war
-
Sports7 days agoThe case for Man United’s Fernandes as Premier League’s best
-
Entertainment1 week agoPalace left in shock as Prince William cancels grand ceremony
-
Business1 week agoUK could adopt EU single market rules under new legislation
-
Entertainment5 days agoIs Claude down? Here’s why users are seeing errors
-
Sports1 week agoLamar Jackson hits back at critics with faithful message on social media
-
Fashion1 week agoEnergy emerges as biggest cost driver in textile margins
-
Business1 week agoRoad accidents: a massive economic challenge | The Express Tribune