Kazakhstan Begins Artificially Inducing Rain Amid Severe Drought

Since May of this year, Kazakhstan has become the first country in Central Asia to use cloud seeding technology to artificially induce rainfall, AFP reports. Authorities are applying the method in the southern Turkestan region, a major cotton-growing area that has been hit hard by drought and desertification.

The technology involves spraying special salts — sodium chloride and potassium chloride — into clouds from aircraft, explained Adnan Yar Muhammad, a representative from the United Arab Emirates, whose country is assisting Kazakhstan with the project. These substances cause water droplets in the clouds to grow from just a few micrometers to several millimeters, making them heavy enough to fall as precipitation. Importantly, the method doesn't create clouds from scratch — it merely enhances existing ones.

The process demands careful preparation: technicians must locate a suitable cloud (not every cloud responds to seeding) and guide the aircraft as close as possible to the optimal point. According to various scientific studies cited by AFP, the method can boost precipitation by 15–20% at best.

Neighboring Countries Voice Concern

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the project immediately raised alarm among Kazakhstan's neighbors. Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov warned that large-scale intervention could disrupt the region's already fragile water cycle. "The Kyrgyz Republic is one of the region's key countries in terms of water resource formation. If technologies for artificially influencing the atmosphere become widely used across the region, the consequences could be long-term and affect the entire Central Asian ecosystem," he said.

Kazakh authorities have dismissed these concerns. According to the country's Center for Digital Governance Support, despite decades of similar technologies being used in various border regions around the world, the scientific community has yet to produce evidence that artificially boosting rainfall locally in one country reduces precipitation in neighboring ones. The agency also noted that Uzbekistan plans to roll out similar technology, though its trials remain smaller in scale and more geographically limited.

Effectiveness Still in Question

As AFP notes, the overall effect of cloud seeding remains uncertain, its results are difficult to measure, and large-scale deployment is costly. The World Meteorological Organization has called for further scientific research while ruling out any danger to human health or the environment, acknowledging the method's potential economic benefits. According to the organization, around 50 countries worldwide already use the technology to combat drought, hail, and air pollution.

Bulat Yesekin, a representative of the Central Asian expert platform on water resource management, told Radio Free Europe that the long-term effects of this technology remain insufficiently studied. "Today we should rely on scientific recommendations and already proven solutions, not hypotheses. That means restoring natural water flows rather than trying to catch water from clouds," he said.

Kazbek Bedebayev, a representative of the Turkestan region, told AFP that the area went eight months without rain last year. He noted that cloud seeding alone won't solve every problem — drip irrigation and repairs to irrigation systems and canals are still badly needed, as these continue to suffer from constant leaks caused by aging Soviet-era infrastructure.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz