Weather Control Still In Distant Future Says U.S. Professor

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 94, 13 September 1948, Page 7

Weather Control Still In Distant Future Says U.S. Professor

There was a future in weather control, but it was a distant one. People expected too much. They did not seem to realise that cloud that was going to rain was needed in order to produce rain artificially. Man had not advanced sufficiently to be able to make rain out of a clear sky. This was stated by Mr H. J. Critchfield, formerly Professor of Climatology at the State College of Washington when he arrived to take up the appointment of visiting lecturer in geography at Canterbury University College. He will lecture principally on weather and climate. During the summer he expects to do research work in Westland and will study the general climate and geography of New Zealand before he returns to the United States in 1950. Speaking about recent developments in the United States with research, into climatology, Mr Critchfield said the most interesting concerned attempts to control the weather. These had reached a stage where scientists were able to make artificial snow as well as rain. He said the producing of artificial rain raised several legal difficulties for private individuals attempting it. The General Electric Company of America had found the responsibility attached to its tests too great and had turned its plant and equipment over to the Government. The company had discovered there was a serious danger of not being able to control the process. In one case it might, by making artificial rain, deprive farmers of it in places where it was vitally needed. In another case, it might cause widespread and destructive floods.