– Atmospheric Ionization

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Asked by a child a older than 5 after overhearing a Kurzgesagt video, though not in these words obviously. Could we use a machine(s) to cool the planet or bring more rain by artificially ionizing the atmosphere?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Atmospheric ionization can have an effect on cloud cover, this is true.

But in order to have more rain, you will have to increase the flow rate at every stage of the global cycle – not only the atmospheric condensation. You will also need faster evaporation and faster convection.

When it comes to cloud cover and cooling – maybe. In fact, high altitude cloud cover has been steadily growing, especially over Europe and US, because of highly increased air traffic and the condensation that it brings. Some estimate that it has grown by more than 30%. Some even suggest that this might be a solution to global warming. There is even a very commonly circulated conspiracy theory about the oil companies already doing this in secret. But the global warming problem is far more complex – and the real problem is finding a way to stop modifying the climate which is a very fragile set of balances. Maybe there are artificial solutions, but maybe some of them will also have other very disastrous consequences.

Also ionizing the atmosphere will likely require prohibitive amounts of energy and the strong electromagnetic fields required will probably have very significant adverse effects.