Sixty two years ago, on this day, October 17th, 1963,
17-18 Oct 1963 TRANSMITTAL The Honorable Leland J. Haworth Director National Science Foundation Washington, D. C. Dear Dr. Haworth: It is an honor to transmit herewith to the National Science Foundation the report of the Special Commission on Weather Modification, authorized by the National Science Board at its meeting on October 17-18, 1963, in accordance with Sections 3(a)(7) and 9 of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, and appointed by you on June 16, 1964. The Commission was requested to examine the physical, biological, legal, social, and political aspects of the field and make recommendations concerning future policies and programs.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 319ppm. As of 2025, when this post was published, it is 425ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that weather modification experiments had been going on since the late 1940s (mostly attempts to make rain). (There’s a long history – firing cannons at clouds etc.)
There had been a UN resolution on this in 1961 (Kennedy – link).
The specific context was that the US and the USSR were deep into their scientific/military/technological dick-swinging contest, which had a year previously brought us all to the edge of armageddon.
What I think we can learn from this – that those who are banging on about the government controlling the weather are wrong, but they are in fact understandably wrong – HAARPING on about the weather.
What happened next – weather modification continued (Operation Popeye is an eyepopper) but by the late 1970s, thanks to – er, physics and international agreements – was on the backburner.
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day:
October 17, 1973 – the coup at the Australian Conservation Foundation
October 18, 1973 – “how on earth do you stop using fossil fuels?”
One reply on “October 17, 1963 – Weather Modification report released”
Climate history must be depoliticized and school children as well as youth should be nurtured in understanding not dogma nor indoctrination.