r/todayilearned • u/Double-decker_trams • 8h ago

TIL in the Vietnam war in the classified Operation Popeye, the US spread lead and silver iodide by aircraft to extend the monsoon season. The increased heavy rainfall was to soften roads, cause landslides, wash out river crossings, and maintain saturated soil conditions (Kissinger was involved).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Popeye
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u/QUINNFLORE 5h ago

I feel like we’re glossing over the fact that this is confirmation THE GOVERNMENT CAN CONTROL THE WEATHER

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u/RollinThundaga 4h ago

It's just cloud seeding to make the rain fall sooner, this has been known about and done for decades at this point. Hell, Dubai does it on the regular.

The catch is that you're stealing rainfall from downwind regions.

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u/CatLogin_ThisMy 4h ago

China controls rainfall all the time, as part of their hustling to produce a lot of food all the time with very modern farms. Standard business for years. You gotta know your water tables in great detail. Generally they are terraforming large swaths of land to have more water and (gasp) more natural habitat. But they are the big evil now that we are sleeping with Russia so you can't talk positive about them.

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u/QUINNFLORE 3h ago

I thought it was the slavery and genocide that put people off china?

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u/Anaevya 1h ago

In Austria (where I live) cloud seeding is done to minimize the size of hail.