Hogging the clouds

The article “Making It Rain” ( Life, Feb 21) exposes a fault in our collective reasoning and part of the reason that we are destroying our planet. The article talks about the success and pride associated with the effort of making it rain to benefit rice farmers and consumer capitalism.

Because Thailand benefits from the manipulation of the weather, the “Butterfly Effect” (the chaos theory that focuses on the inter-connection of systems within an environment where small changes have large effects) is not considered.

The question of “who is harmed by forcing rain where it is not intended to go naturally” is not entertained or allowed. How it might be actually making the flooding problem locally worse is also avoided-mainly because of the profit and money from selling rice. With Thailand being the number two global rice producer generating over $4 billion per year, avoidance of this issue is a form of corruption.

If we are to address climate change, we need to include all the influences on weather. When I talk with climatologists about how they account for global weather modification efforts in their models about weather patterns, they say this information is absent because the data is “private” or proprietary. If we are to understand the challenge of climate change and determine coping strategies for the future of humanity, we need to include this into the algorithms and models for a relevant solution.

So instead of making a game to perpetuate this fault and scientific omission, how about inspiring students to explore the ramifications of such programs?

Is being greedy about rain, or any natural resource, really something that needs to be supported and blindly cheered on? How does responsibility for one’s actions, which is a major Buddhist tenet, factor into the equation? DARIUS HOBER