Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1901-07-10
CONTROL WEATHER.
MANY MEN ARE WORKING ~
ATTAIN THAT END.
some Attempts Recently Made at In
auencinR the Elements Have Been
successful = Large Consumption Oh
Coal May Produce More showers

Involuntary influence exists without
doubt; 1t is exercised, for instance py
deforestation and by the resulting III
teration of conditions OF son, WHICH
modifies the flowing of streams ana III
creases foundations; and also ny Tie
development of Industrial activity, as
Russell has shown in the case OF Lon-
don fogs, which augment conslderapiy
with increased consumption or coal
The considerable increase OF the num-
Der of thunderstorms, which mas uou-
bled since 1870, leads us to believe that
in this case also there Is an erect que
In part, at least, TO Industrial activity
for 1t Is difficult to attribute an increase
so considerable to the sole action Oh
sun spots An attempt has been mace
to explain the increase in the number
of storms by the abundant production
of steam by industrial engines Or.
Trabert cannot accept this explanation,
for he calculates that the quantity OF
steam thus produced In the whole OF
Germany would scarcely represent an
evaporation of OO025 millimeter OF
water to the square kilometer Q-40OO
inch to the square mile. But it Is quite
different with particles of dust scatter
ed In great abundance throughout the
air by the incomplete combustion OF
quantity of coal equal to 200 Kilograms
to the square kilometer Il, lao pounds to
the square mile). This considerable in
crease of atmospheric dust should exer-
else an action on the production OF
rain. When moist air passes the state
of saturation, condensation takes place
ON particles of dust. The more there
are Of these, the more drops are form
ed; thus, for given quantity Of vapor
condensed, the drops are necessarily
smaller Now the tension Of saturation
on q convex surface increases with the
curvature of the surface, that is to say,
with the smallness Of the drops. An
increase Of the quantity of dust In the
air will therefore tend to favor the
approximation of the air, and conse-
quently to produce thunderstorms and
abundant rains.
1t is much more interesting, however,
to know whether we may voluntarily
act upon the weather. To this kind Of
action belong the attempts made sue
cessfully In France, OH large scale,
to prevent nocturnal frosts by the pro-
duction Of artificial clouds. But when
we come to the artificial production of
rain, success Is much more doubtful,
as all attempts, SO far, have proved. In
the production of any phenomenon 1t
Is always a question Of the equivalent
transformation of one kind of energy
Into another, and we must inquire
whether the necessary amount of ener-
gy is at our disposal. Now Trabert cal
culates that to bring to saturation a
cubic kilometer Zone quarter cubic
mile) Of air at 40 per cent relative hui
nudity requires no less than 1,400 kilo-
grammeters Of work 10000 foot
pounds. This scarcely allows us to
think of the possibility of artificial con-
densation. Such thing would appear
to be possible only If the conditions
necessary to condensation already ex-
listed, and II we had only to put latent
forces into action. Finally, to this
voluntary action on the weather be-
longs the method, used in the Austrian
Alps since the time of the Emperor
Joseph H., of making numerous explo-
sions to ward off hailstorm, a process
that, as is well known, has been devel-
oped and systematized by M. Steger
at Misunderstanding, In Southern
Syria, with great success.-Co Cosmos
PARIS.