Weather modification: Finding common ground

Research and operational approaches to weather modification expressed in the National Research Council's 2003 report on "Critical Issues in Weather Modification Research" and in the Weather Modification Association's response to that report form the basis for this discussion. There is agreement that advances in the past few decades over a broad front of understanding physical processes and in technology have not been comprehensively applied to weather modification. Such advances need to be capitalized upon in the form of a concerted and sustained national effort to carry out basic and applied research in weather modification. The need for credible scientific evidence and the pressure for action should be resolved. Differences in the perception of current knowledge, the utility of numerical models, and the specific needs of research and operations in weather modification must be addressed. The increasing demand for water and the cost to society inflicted by severe weather require that the intellectual, technical, and administrative resources of the nation be combined to resolve whether and to what degree humans can influence the weather.