I've been following the articles on hailseeding/weather modification in the last few weeks anddisappointed by the narrow views and misinformation presented by local parties.Cloud seeding does not prevent thunderstorms. The purpose of cloud seeding in Alberta is to reduce the size of hailstones that fall out of thunderclouds, thereby reducing overall damage and insurance claims. Insurance companies keep statistics of things such as cost of claims, where they occur, etc., because their business is managing risk. I assume local cloud seeding must be working OK, otherwise the insurance companies wouldn't be paying for it out of their own pockets for the last 15 years. This is not to say that no hail will fall, just that averaged over the entire area of Hail Alley with its hundreds of thousands of homes and crops, the overall cost of damage is probably reduced.It is certainly sad and unfortunate for those people that do get hailed out and suffer damage, but we do live in Hail Alley, and hail happens; the only thing the cloud seeding may do is change where it comes down and how big it is when it does. One thing that is very hard to measure is what does not happen. That is, if they hadn't seeded, where and how big would the hail have been? However, insurance companies deal with hundreds of thousands of people, not just a few, and they have to look at the overall numbers, not just ìDid this same person have to replace his roof twice?î If that's the case, why not replace it with something that will withstand hail, like sheet metal? We have a metal roof, and it has lasted through kiwi-sized hail with no damage whatsoever. Build for the conditions we know to expect.As for the danger of silver iodide, if you look it up its toxicity is considered to be quite low, and it is used in very low quantities. It is a lot less poisonous than the thousands of gallons of carcinogenic herbicides and pesticides that are sprayed on crops every year. I would suspect that any ill effects on humans and livestock are more likely to have causes other than cloud seeding. When dealing with issues like hail and cloud seeding, please keep in mind the bigger picture and some common sense.Martina HalwassRural Didsbury
