Filed By A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.
Publisher
The CIA has not said why it has decided to fund the project at this time, but the US government's apparent interest in altering the climate isn't new.
The first openly acknowledged, major use of weather modification as a military tactic was Project StormFury.
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force engaged in a cloud seeding program to try to create rainfall and turn the Ho Chi Minh Trail into muck, in order to gain tactical advantage.
Remember when China's "Weather Modification Office" controversially seeded clouds in advance of the
2008 Beijing Olympics? They wanted to ensure rain would fall in the Beijing suburbs instead of over the Olympic stadiums.
According to Lauren Rugani, spokeswoman for the National Academy of Science, the CIA's partner in the study: "one of the objectives of the study is to discuss the possible national security concerns that might arise should geoengineering techniques be deployed (expected or unexpectedly), either by a private entity or another country."
The CIA says trust us, this study is not meant for offensive or military purposes. And since Edward Snowden doesn't work for the CIA, we may have little choice than to take their word for it.
Further Reading
See Conspiracy theorists, rejoice!