Weather warfare
Encyclopedia
Weather warfare is the use of weather control
techniques for military purposes.
The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (Geneva: 18 May 1977, Entered into force: 5 October 1978) prohibits "widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury". However it has been argued that this permits "local, non-permanent changes".
The United States Space Preservation Act of 2001 bans the use of exotic weapons systems to damage climate, weather, and tectonic systems so as to induce damage or destruction.
Prior to the Geneva Convention, 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.
With much less success, the United States also dropped salt on the airbase during the siege of Khe Sanh
in an attempt to reduce the fog that hindered air operations.
According to a report produced for the United States Air Force written in 1996, weather modification technologies "do not currently exist. But as they are developed, the importance of their potential applications rises rapidly." Such emerging technologies are described as "a force multiplier with tremendous power that could be exploited across the full spectrum of war-fighting environments."
Weather control
Weather control is the act of manipulating or altering certain aspects of the environment to produce desirable changes in weather. Weather control can have the goal of preventing damaging weather, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, from occurring; of causing beneficial weather, such as rainfall in...
techniques for military purposes.
The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (Geneva: 18 May 1977, Entered into force: 5 October 1978) prohibits "widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury". However it has been argued that this permits "local, non-permanent changes".
The United States Space Preservation Act of 2001 bans the use of exotic weapons systems to damage climate, weather, and tectonic systems so as to induce damage or destruction.
Prior to the Geneva Convention, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
used weather warfare in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Under the auspices of the Air Weather Service, the United States' Operation Popeye
Operation Popeye
Operation Popeye was a US military cloud seeding operation during the Vietnam war to extend the monsoon season over Laos, specifically areas of the Ho Chi Minh Trail...
used cloud seeding
Cloud seeding
Cloud seeding, a form of intentional weather modification, is the attempt to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud...
over the Ho Chi Minh Trail
Ho Chi Minh trail
The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...
, 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.
With much less success, the United States also dropped salt on the airbase during the siege of Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà.Khe Sanh Combat Base was a United States Marine Corps outpost in South Vietnam used during the Vietnam War. The airstrip was built in September 1962...
in an attempt to reduce the fog that hindered air operations.
According to a report produced for the United States Air Force written in 1996, weather modification technologies "do not currently exist. But as they are developed, the importance of their potential applications rises rapidly." Such emerging technologies are described as "a force multiplier with tremendous power that could be exploited across the full spectrum of war-fighting environments."
See also
- Cloud seedingCloud seedingCloud seeding, a form of intentional weather modification, is the attempt to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud...
- High Frequency Active Auroral Research ProgramHigh Frequency Active Auroral Research ProgramThe High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program is an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ....
- Weather Modification Operations and Research BoardWeather Modification Operations and Research BoardThe Weather Modification Operations and Research Board was a proposed agency of the United States government, intended to promote research into weather control. A bill creating of the board was introduced in the U.S. Senate on two occasions by Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the first on March...
External links
- Non Lethal Warfare Proposal:Weather Modification, The Sunshine Project
- Weather as a Force Multiplier, Owning the Weather in 2025 - 08-004c002.PDF