Weather warfare

hideThis article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. Please by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may , discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. Please by rewriting it in a balanced fashion that contextualizes different points of view. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2018) This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. . The talk page may contain suggestions. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Weather warfare is the use of weather modification techniques such as cloud seeding for military purposes. Many also speculate that eddy currents are used to create hurricanes and other cyclone events via satellites.

Details[]

Prior to the Environmental Modification Convention signed in Geneva in 1977, the United States used weather warfare in the Vietnam War. Under the auspices of the Air Weather Service, the United States' Operation Popeye used cloud seeding over the Ho Chi Minh trail, increasing rainfall by an estimated thirty percent during 1967 and 1968. It was hoped that the increased rainfall would reduce the rate of infiltration down the trail.^[1]

With much less success, the United States also dropped "salt" on the airbase during the Battle of Khe Sanh in an attempt to reduce the fog that hindered air operations.^{[citation needed]}

A research paper produced for the United States Air Force written in 1996 speculates about the future use of nanotechnology to produce "artificial weather", clouds of microscopic computer particles all communicating with each other to form an "intelligent fog" that could be used for various purposes. "Artificial weather technologies do not currently exist. But as they are developed, the importance of their potential applications rises rapidly." Weather modification technologies are described in an unclassified academic paper written by air force officer-cadet students as "a force multiplier with tremendous power that could be exploited across the full spectrum of war-fighting environments."^[2]

The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (Geneva: May 18, 1977, Entered into force: October 5, 1978) prohibits "widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury". However, it has been argued^[who?] that this permits "local, non-permanent changes". In contrast, the "Consultative Committee of Experts" established in Article VIII of the Convention has stated in their "Understanding relating to Article II" that any use of environmental modification where this is done "as a means of destruction, damage or injury to another State Party, would be prohibited.".^[3] Furthermore, they conclude in the same paragraph that "military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques, would result, or could reasonably be expected to result, in widespread, long-lasting or severe destruction, damage or injury.", meaning that all signatories are expected to abstain from using weather modification to cause harm at any scale. Importantly, the language of the treaty does not overtly condemn military use of weather modification when it does not directly cause harm,^[3] such as the United States' use of weather modification in the siege of Khe Sanh, discussed above. Because of the limitations of the treaty, and the fact that it applies only to signatory states, weather warfare is still possible, and may continue to play a role in warfare throughout the twenty-first century. The United States prohibits weather modification without permission of the United States Secretary of Commerce.^[4][5]

See also[]

• Weather Modification Operations and Research Board

References[]

External links[]

• Non Lethal Warfare Proposal:Weather Modification, The Sunshine Projectpurposes.