In the fight against dangerously high air pollution in the metropolis of Lahore, Pakistan used artificial rain for the first time today. Two properly equipped aircraft flew over ten areas of the city, the Punjab provincial government announced. Lahore is consistently cited as one of the worst cities in the world in terms of air pollution.
The artificial rain experiment is a “gift” from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said Mohsin Naqvi, acting head of the provincial government. “The Emirati teams arrived in two planes about 10 to 12 days ago,” he told local media. “They used 48 flares to create the rain,” he added. It will soon become clear what the effect of “artificial rain” is.
The UAE is increasingly using “cloud seeding” to provide rain across the country’s arid expanses. Manipulating the weather involves spraying regular salt or a mixture of different salts into clouds. Salt crystals promote condensation and thus the formation of rain. The technology is already used by dozens of countries, including the USA, China and India.
According to experts, even very light rain reduces air pollution.