Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he will join Cuban scientists on flights to "bomb clouds" to generate rain amid a severe drought that has caused much public anger over water and electricity rationing.Chavez said the Cubans had already arrived in Venezuela, and were planning to fly custom equipped aircraft above the Orinoco river."I'm going in a plane; any cloud that crosses me, I'll zap it so that it rains," Chavez said late Saturday during a ceremony with the families of five Cubans convicted of spying in the U.S.Many nations have so-called cloud seeding programs, which seek to alter weather patterns. Although the effectiveness of these practices is disputed, one common method involves firing silver iodine at clouds. China employs rockets loaded with the chemical to spur rainfall in arid regions .... http://www.news-about-space.org
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Heavy rainfall hits Venezuela (2010)
Rains and floods have battered farmers, who so far have reported losses in crops of plantains, vegetables, cocoa and taro in 11 Venezuelan states. This will further undermine agriculture production, which is already insufficient to prevent increasing inflation.
Colombia and Venezuela record the worst rains in years.
Colombia and Venezuela have recorded the worst rains over the past few years, which claimed a toll of more than 200 and left over 1.5 million homeless .... http://www.eluniversal.com
