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In a massive move for the country’s growing climate woes, India is aiming to control weather phenomena like rainfall, lightning, and hail within five years. Dubbed "<keyword id="23131560" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mission-Mausam" source="keywords">Mission Mausam</keyword>," this government-backed initiative includes the development of <keyword id="23148975" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mausam-GPT" source="keywords">Mausam GPT</keyword>, a weather AI model designed to enhance prediction accuracy and even manipulate the weather. This would make India one of the first countries to experiment with <keyword id="21369368" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="weather-modification" source="keywords">weather modification</keyword> on a significant scale. <h2>Mission Mausam</h2>India’s "Mission Mausam" aims to reshape the future of weather management by using technology to control rain. Over the next 18 months, the government will start with lab simulations to either enhance or suppress rainfall. The ultimate goal, as outlined by Earth Sciences Secretary M. Ravichandran, is to roll out full-scale weather modification within five years. He stated that the initiative could even target events like Independence Day, where “one can think about suppressing rain.” By deploying <keyword id="20644540" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cloud-seeding" source="keywords">cloud seeding</keyword> techniques alongside AI-driven weather prediction tools like "Mausam GPT," the mission seeks to significantly improve India’s ability to manage extreme weather conditions. A key aspect of the plan involves building a robust system of advanced radars, supercomputers, satellites with high-performance sensors, and GIS-based decision support systems. This cutting-edge tech is expected to boost India’s short- and medium-range weather forecasting accuracy by 5-10%, ensuring no event — such as cloudbursts — goes undetected. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="113251187" title="India braces for an intensely harsh winter as La Niña takes hold" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>India is not new to weather manipulation efforts. The government has been running pilot projects, such as the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) in Maharashtra, to study cloud properties and enhance rainfall. <h2>Why is weather manipulation necessary and is it safe?</h2>Extreme weather events in India, like deadly floods, droughts, and hailstorms, have noticeably increased in frequency due to <keyword id="19907392" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change" source="keywords">climate change</keyword>. Mission Mausam could potentially give India an edge in combating these disasters. For example, imagine preventing a flood by suppressing rain or creating artificial rain during a drought. India’s investment of Rs 2,000 crore over two years certainly reflects the seriousness of the mission, which is expected to expand further as research progresses. However, weather modification, including cloud seeding, is not without controversy. Globally, cloud seeding has had limited success, with countries like the US, Russia, and China also experimenting with these methods but facing inconsistent results. Even former MoES Secretary Madhavan Rajeevan has noted that “the technology is complex” and still in its developmental stages. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112825937" title="Shivaji Maharaj Statue collapse: Identifying 5 reasons behind the accident" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Further, the potential downsides can't be ignored. While controlling the weather could save lives, meddling with natural processes is risky. Weather manipulation might have unintended ecological consequences, like shifting rainfall patterns that could harm ecosystems and agriculture. It may also pose geopolitical risks, as neighbouring countries could accuse India of altering weather systems that affect their own climates. Ultimately, while the idea of managing the weather may seem appealing, it opens up a Pandora’s box of environmental and ethical challenges that need careful consideration.

The Indian government is taking steps to control rainfall and weather within five years — is it too risky of a move?

Climate Action 15: 2024's top global innovators powering green solutions

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists predicted how climate hazards will worsen in nearly 1,000 major cities by 2100.</li><li>Heat waves, energy demand, and mosquito-borne diseases will spike as global temperatures rise.</li></ul>Monthlong heat waves. Skyrocketing energy demand. Greater risks of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/west-nile-triple-e-mosquito-virus-diseases-us-2024-9">mosquito-borne diseases</a>.These are the climate hazards that people living in nearly 1,000 of the world's largest cities will continue to face as global average temperatures rise through the end of the century, a new analysis by the World Resources Institute, an environmental-research group, found. And the impacts won't be felt equally. People living in low-income cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Indonesia face the greatest threats.The findings come as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-summer-2024-hottest-record-globally-and-europe">2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record</a>, and billions of people are expected to move into urban areas in the coming decades. More than half the world's population, or 4.4 billion people, lives in cities. By 2050, city dwellers are forecast to make up two-thirds of humanity, with the vast majority of that growth in Africa and Asia. Some 2 billion people currently live in the cities that WRI studied, from Seattle and Rio de Janeiro to Johannesburg and Bengaluru, India."Most climate modeling looks at hazards, exposure, and risks at a national scale because that's where a lot of policymaking and international agreements are focused," Eric Mackres, the senior manager of data and tools at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities and a coauthor of the study, said. "But that's disconnected from where people live. We wanted to put more localized information in the hands of those decision-makers so they're informed about the risks that they are likely to experience."<h2 id="c108ac2f-66b9-4462-bb7a-b51785a2b482">Local climate hazards</h2>To make predictions at a city level, Mackres said WRI built on global climate modeling done by hundreds of other researchers. These models contain daily information — both historical data and projections through 2100 — on air temperature, humidity, and precipitation. WRI used that data to make its own projections about the length and frequency of heat waves, how often people will need to cool their homes and workplaces, and the number of days with optimal temperatures for mosquitoes in cities with at least half a million people. WRI compared how those local hazards are expected to change as global average temperatures rise from 1.5 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels — a threshold scientists say the world is likely to cross by 2100.The world has warmed by about 1.2 degrees so far compared with mid-1800s levels, and the consequences are playing out around the world.<div type="image" title="A graph shows how long heat waves will last in seven regions around the world under 1.5 degrees of global warming compared to preindustrial levels." height="1080" width="1080" msid="113493288" hostid="261" sizebytes="66672"></div>In Bengaluru, India's fifth-most-populous city, extreme heat has caused severe water shortages and surging energy demand. Under 1.5 degrees of warming, heat waves could last about 13 days on average and stretch to nearly 38 days as global temperatures rise, WRI found. Bengaluru last year <a target="_blank" href="https://wri-india.org/news/release-bengalurus-first-ever-climate-action-plan-launched">launched its first climate-action plan</a>, which includes planting trees and expanding green spaces to help cool down urban centers.An enormous outbreak of dengue fever is underway in Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, peak days for transmission of mosquito-borne illnesses could increase from 69 to 118 a year, WRI found. The city is investing in vaccines, and community health workers are hunting down places that help mosquitoes breed, including standing water, to reduce risks.Meanwhile, places that haven't had to consider cooling strategies are now being forced to, including the US Pacific Northwest. Seattle was once the least-air-conditioned city. Now it ranks second behind San Francisco after a series of deadly heat waves prompted residents to install AC. The trend is playing out in cities that are already hot, too, like Tehran, Iran, and Marrakech, Morocco, and spiking energy demand along the way. If that demand is met with fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal, it could exacerbate the climate crisis, WRI said.WRI noted that there are limitations to its research, in part because there are a lot of unknowns about the future. National governments and cities can slow the climate crisis and protect people from its impacts, including by shifting away from fossil fuels and investing in infrastructure that's more resilient to heat and storms."Our findings are not a foregone conclusion," Mackres said. "These are choices we have between 1.5 and 3 degrees of warming, and none are out of the realm of possibility. It's really important that national decision-makers understand the impacts on cities and the actions that cities can take to both reduce climate change and to adapt to what's coming."<a target="_blank" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/19141193/">You can explore the data for your city here.</a>

A new tool shows what the climate crisis could feel like in your city

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Four teens won $50,000 and first place at this year's Earth Prize competition.</li><li>The Earth Prize is the world's largest environmental competition for teens.</li></ul>George Cheng thinks a lot about flooding.In his home state North Carolina, hurricanes and tropical storms cause annual flooding that damages homes, farms, and crop fields. Cheng is also close to people from India whose families were affected by the heavy 2023 floods.In the not-so-distant future, the 18-year-old MIT freshman plans to unveil an app that forecasts local flooding in a new way, better informing those at risk and helping them evacuate in time.The concept earned Cheng, along with a team of three <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teen-wins-isef-science-fair-grand-prize-discovery-biomedical-devices-2024-5">fellow teens</a>, first place and $50,000 at this year's Earth Prize competition in May. Cheng plans to use his share to help pay for his college degree.<h2 id="274f79bf-64b3-456f-8f01-8c248331ba34">A new way to visualize flood risk</h2><div type="image" title="colorful computer simulation showing peaks and valleys of a 100 square mile region" height="942" width="1136" msid="113135189" hostid="261" sizebytes="70260"></div>The Earth Prize, launched in 2021, is the world's largest environmental competition for teens. Competitors submit physical models and computational projects designed to address issues related to waste, pollution, the environment, and other themes.Cheng and his team decided to focus on the widespread threat to human lives that climate change poses, particularly via flooding.An estimated <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=577ddf9139da21c51fcdcacc983198ed420ffacdb8519ea1f8436b575f777e7b&amp;postID=66cd0447b6269761a73bcf60&amp;postSlug=teens-win-50000-earth-prize-flood-forecasting-model-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41467-022-30727-4">1.8 billion</a> people worldwide are at risk of devastating flooding that can destroy homes and claim lives. As climate change drives up sea levels and increases precipitation, experts project flooding to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-new-york-city-nyc-floods-are-getting-worse-2023-9">worsen</a>.Cheng and his teammates hope their project, called FloodGate, can help people at risk.The problem with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-climate-change-crisis-extreme-weather-is-costing-you-2023-9">current forecasts</a> is that it can be hard to interpret how a storm or flash flood will affect you directly. For example, if the weather forecast says it's going to rain five inches in your town, it's hard to know what kind of effect that will have on your home and whether you should evacuate.That's what FloodGate eventually aims to answer.For The Earth Prize, the team designed a computer model to construct a 3D map of a 100-square-mile region.Then, they combined that model with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-deepmind-ai-weather-forecast-accuracy-2023-11">AI and real-time weather forecasts</a> to predict detailed flood risks for that region.The model is still in its early stage, said Yung Yoong Sze, an Earth Prize mentor who consulted with the FloodGate team.Ultimately, the team wants to use their model to translate weather forecasts into pictures. So when you open the app, you can see the physical consequences of five inches of rain in your area because it'll show you how much of your home or crop field could be underwater."Our model kind of puts the numbers with the images. I think it's more effective than just the numbers itself," Cheng said.<h2 id="e832d718-fb29-42df-96bc-d77fa3284ddc">What sets FloodGate apart</h2><div type="image" title="hundreds of tiny blue dots connected by thin lines, the computer image simulated flooding tributary connectivity to help predict flood risk" height="744" width="1274" msid="113135188" hostid="261" sizebytes="184456"></div>The team's novel flood forecasting system beat 979 other competing projects for first place."What it had is amazing programming, a very useful app, and fantastic broader application that could actually save lives and have a positive impact on the environment," said Jonathan Baillie, another Earth Prize mentor who worked with the FloodGate team.The Earth Prize is not a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teens-win-fifty-thousand-for-ultrasound-microplastic-filtration-device-2024-5">typical science fair competition</a> where competitors either work alone or with teammates. The Earth Foundation, which sponsors The Earth Prize and is now accepting applications for 2025, provides each competing team with resources and expert mentors to help them develop and advance their projects before the final presentation."I could help them position it and talk about why what they had done was so amazing and how it could be more broadly applied globally," said Baillie, who is president of the nonprofit conservation organization Natural State.FloodGate's model only works for US locations, but the team hopes to eventually expand.That will require broader data sets that can incorporate information from places outside the US, including Africa and Southeast Asia, Yoong Sze said.Showing flood risk is only part of the final vision. Ultimately, Cheng and the team want their product to have a built-in warning system, "kind of like a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-should-never-do-during-a-hurricane-2019-7">hurricane evacuation system</a>," Cheng said.Cheng said the team hopes to unveil the app by the end of 2025.

Teens won $50,000 for inventing a flood forecasting technology they hope can help millions of people at risk worldwide

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The Indian government is taking steps to control rainfall and weather within five years — is it too risky of a move?

Ankush Banerjee

Climate Action 15: 2024's top global innovators powering green solutions

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A new tool shows what the climate crisis could feel like in your city

Catherine Boudreau

Teens won $50,000 for inventing a flood forecasting technology they hope can help millions of people at risk worldwide

Jessica Orwig,Jenny McGrath

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