Mumbai, India - A crowded street filled with cars, vendors, and pedestrians gathers underneath a massive overpass, showcasing urban life in the middle of a bustling city.
Air pollution is a growing problem around the world. One factor is climate change; another is regional wildfires that are propelling more fine particulate matter into the air.
India has been a flashpoint for air pollution for a number of decades. For one thing, the cities are particularly unhealthy for residents due to all kinds of contaminants in the air. For example, Delhi is India’s most polluted city. Its Air Quality Index or AQI is 404, which is classified as “hazardous.” Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Noida aren’t far behind, with scores in the low 300s, classified as “severe.”
So now, for the first time, Delhi’s government, in conjunction with some private sector partners, is scheduled to launch a Cessna with a chemical mix. This is supposed to help formulate rain clouds. The program was supposed to be implemented July 4 to 11 but was eventually postponed.
News reports show the seeding did not happen because of active monsoon conditions, with this from local news reports:
“Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa confirmed that although all operational and regulatory approvals—including DGCA clearance—were in place, the continuous rain since around June 29 made the early‑July window unfeasible.”
The Chemistry
Reports show that the substance that the plane will use for cloud seeding will consist of iodized salt and rock salt, combined with silver iodide nanoparticles.
Silver iodide particles are known for their photocatalytic activity. They are often used for various water treatment applications.
This mix will be dropped from a plane to try to formulate rain clouds.
Why it Helps
A lot of the public reports on the cloud seeding program don’t go into detail about how this practice clears out the local air.
However, one report states that this process will “wash out” contaminants from the sky. A report from The Bridge Chronicle online notes that the technology can induce rainfall and “help clear the city’s skies,” accelerating the formulation of raindrops.
Every trip, officials say, will take about an hour and a half, and cover some 100 square kilometers.
The project? People call it “Technology demonstration and evaluation of cloud seeding as an alternative for Delhi NCR pollution migration.” We’ll see when officials reschedule.
Cloud Seeding in the U.S.
Do we have cloud seeding here in the U.S.?
According to government sources, nine U.S. states currently have active cloud seeding programs. That includes California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, and Utah. Ten other states have banned cloud seeding. In describing why bills to ban this have succeeded, or efforts to conduct it have failed, experts cite debate over the safety of silver iodide or salt-based seeding agents, and opinions on the part of voters that people should not control the weather.
You can get an idea of the scope of state efforts when you look at the money involved. For instance, Utah has a reported $700,000 budget for this kind of work. In Texas, Houston Chronicle coverage reveals a total of about 2,400 cloud-seeding operations occurred from 2004–2024, covering an estimated acreage of 500,000 per year. Formal estimates suggest cloud seeding in the U.S. is likely, on average, to increase local precipitation by 3-15%.
Working on Healthy Air
All of this is good if you want to help clean the air in local communities, in the U.S. and other countries. While it’s important to try to preserve healthy air outdoors, individual families and households can also improve the cleanliness of the air inside their homes using modern appliances.
Air purifiers scrub many potentially harmful pollutants out of air in an enclosed room or space, including:
- Pollutants from vehicle emissions
- Pollutants from industrial emission
- Toxic chemicals from household goods
- Mold spores
- Pet dander
- Ultra fine particles from wood or coal combustion
All of this can be reduced using modern technologies like HEPA filters and activated carbon, along with other well-researched methods for air purification.
Let U.S. Air Purifiers LLC help to make this a reality for you.