Pakistan makes use of synthetic rain for the primary time to struggle air pollution | Atmosphere Information

Cloud seeding was used to counter the hazardous smog within the megacity of Lahore, one of many world’s most polluted cities.

Synthetic rain has been used for the primary time in Pakistan in a bid to fight hazardous ranges of air pollution within the megacity of Lahore, says the provincial authorities.

Planes geared up with cloud-seeding tools flew on Saturday over the japanese metropolis, typically ranked one of many worst locations globally for air air pollution.

“It drizzled in no less than 10 areas of Lahore,” caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi, instructed reporters, including that the authorities have been monitoring the impression of synthetic rain in a radius of 15km (9 miles).

Air high quality in Lahore has been significantly dangerous in the previous few weeks and the Punjab authorities employed a number of techniques together with the early closure of companies and protecting faculties off for 2 additional days to assist enhance the air high quality – however nothing labored.

The “reward” was offered by the United Arab Emirates, Naqvi mentioned.

“Groups from the UAE, together with two planes, arrived right here about 10 to 12 days in the past. They used 48 flares to create the rain,” he mentioned.

Naqvi mentioned the staff would be capable of assess the results of the experiment by Saturday evening.

The UAE has more and more used cloud seeding, generally known as synthetic rain or blueskying, to create rain within the arid expanse of the nation.

Within the cloud-seeding course of, silver iodide, a yellowish salt, is burned in clouds in a compound with acetone to encourage condensation to type as rain.

Naqvi reassured the general public of the security of the synthetic rain, citing greater than 1,000 annual missions by the UAE and related applied sciences utilized in dozens of nations, together with the USA, China and India.

Lahore’s poisonous smog

Even very modest rain is efficient in bringing down air pollution, consultants have mentioned.

Ranges of PM2.5 pollution – cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream via the lungs – have been measured as hazardous in Lahore on Saturday at greater than 66 instances the World Well being Group’s hazard limits.

Air air pollution has worsened in Pakistan in recent times, as a combination of low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal crop burn off and colder winter temperatures coalesce into stagnant clouds of smog.

Lahore has suffered essentially the most from the poisonous smog, choking the lungs of greater than 11 million residents in Lahore throughout the winter season.

Respiratory the toxic air has catastrophic well being penalties.

Extended publicity can set off strokes, coronary heart illness, lung most cancers and respiratory ailments, in response to the WHO.

The Pakistani authorities blame industrial emissions, smoke from brick kilns and automobiles, and the burning of crop residue and basic waste for inflicting air air pollution and smog within the central Punjab province.

Naqvi mentioned that there could be extra situations of synthetic rain within the metropolis, by which smog towers – large-scale air purifiers designed to seize air pollution – would even be put in within the coming weeks.

Rising industrialisation in South Asia in latest many years has pushed a rise in pollution emanating from factories, development exercise and automobiles in densely populated areas.

The issue turns into extra extreme in cooler autumn and winter months, as temperature inversion prevents a layer of heat air from rising and traps pollution nearer to the bottom.

Rising air air pollution can reduce life expectancy by greater than 5 years per particular person in South Asia, one of many world’s most polluted areas, in response to a report revealed in August which flagged the rising burden of hazardous air on well being.

Pakistan is accountable for lower than 1 p.c of worldwide carbon emissions however is among the many high 10 most climate-vulnerable nations.