Artificial rain was used for the first time on Saturday in Pakistan to combat the smog which is very harmful to the health of the population which is stagnating in the megacity of Lahore, announced the provincial government of Punjab. Planes, supplied by the United Arab Emirates and equipped with cloud seeding technology, flew over ten areas of the city, considered one of the most polluted in the world.
A “gift” from the United Arab Emirates
This is a “donation” made by the United Arab Emirates, said the acting head of the government of the Punjab province Mohsin Naqvi. “Teams from the United Arab Emirates arrived here with two planes ten to twelve days ago. They used 48 rockets to cause rain,” he told reporters. The team will know by Saturday evening whether the “artificial rain” process was successful, the official added.
The United Arab Emirates is increasingly using the technique of cloud seeding to create artificial rain in the arid regions of this drought-prone country. The process consists of introducing into the clouds, to obtain precipitation, salt or a mixture of different salts, the crystals promoting the condensation which triggers rain. This technique has been implemented in dozens of countries, including the United States, China and India. Even a little rain is effective in reducing pollution, experts say.
The threshold exceeded more than 66 times
Air pollution has worsened in recent years in Pakistan, with low-end diesel fumes, fumes from seasonal agricultural burning and colder winter temperatures contributing to smog that asphyxiates the lungs of its 11 million residents. from Lahore. Levels of pollutants PM2.5, carcinogenic microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs, exceeded on Saturday in Lahore more than 66 times the threshold considered dangerous by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The consequences of prolonged exposure to smog, this mixture of fog and polluting emissions, are catastrophic: heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory diseases, strokes, according to the WHO. Successive governments have tried different approaches, including dousing roads with water or closing schools, factories and markets on weekends, with varying degrees of success.