How effective is cloud seeding, and why isn’t this done more often in places with regular forest fires (like California) or in the last few weeks to help the situation in Australia?

Question

How effective is cloud seeding, and why isn’t this done more often in places with regular forest fires (like California) or in the last few weeks to help the situation in Australia?

In: Other

Answer 1

You need moisture in the atmosphere to seed the clouds.
Even if there was enough moisture in the atmosphere around the fires the technology is new and poorly understood. We don’t know what the long term ramifications of using it are (or even if there is any) and were unsure whether we would trigger any feedback loops or odd weather patterns. We could cause flooding or even worsen droughts in other regions