Pakistan used artificial rain to combat smog, a first in the country Franceinfo

Authorities have used cloud seeds to trigger rain to disperse air pollution, which can cause many diseases and is getting worse in Pakistan.

Published on December 16, 2023 6:16 p.m. Updated on December 16, 2023 6:37 p.m

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Residents of Lahore amid smog, Pakistan, December 14, 2023. (ARIF ALI / AFP)

Hope for one of the most polluted cities in the world. For the first time in Pakistan, artificial rain has been used to combat smog, a very harmful fog made of fine particles that stagnates in the city of Lahore, the provincial government of Punjab announced on Saturday, December 16th.

To make the rain fall, the authorities resorted to the technique of cloud seeding. This process involves introducing salt or a mixture of different salts into the clouds, with the crystals encouraging the condensation of water, resulting in rain. According to experts, even a little rain is effective in reducing environmental pollution.

This technique has been implemented in dozens of countries, including the United States, China and India. In this case, it was the United Arab Emirates, which increasingly resorted to this technology in the face of drought, providing Pakistan with two aircraft and teams. “They deployed 48 rockets to trigger rain over 10 areas of the city,” the local official said, adding that the team would know by Saturday evening whether the “artificial rain” process was successful.

More than 66 times the danger threshold

Air pollution has increased in Pakistan in recent years, particularly due to low-end diesel exhaust, exhaust from seasonal agricultural burning and colder winter temperatures. Levels of PM2.5, cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs, exceeded more than 66 times the limit considered dangerous by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Lahore on Saturday.

According to the WHO, prolonged exposure to smog increases the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory diseases and strokes. Successive governments have tried different approaches, including dousing streets with water or closing schools, factories and markets on weekends, with varying degrees of success.