Delhi's Cloud Seeding Experiment for Air Pollution Fails Due to Low Humidity

Imagine clouds are like sponges filled with water.

Sometimes, even if there are clouds, they don't release rain.

Cloud seeding is like giving these clouds a little extra push to make them rain.

It involves spraying special tiny particles into the clouds that help the water droplets stick together and get bigger, so they fall as rain.

The Delhi government tried this to clean the air after a big festival called Diwali, which makes the air very dirty.

They used chemicals like salt and silver iodide.

However, the experiment didn't work because the clouds didn't have enough water vapor, like trying to squeeze water from a dry sponge.

Cloud seeding only works when there's enough moisture in the clouds.

Experts say this is not a good long-term plan to fix dirty air because it only cleans things up for a short time and doesn't stop the pollution from happening in the first place.

Other countries have tried cloud seeding for rain, and it sometimes works, but it can also cause problems like flooding or less rain elsewhere.