MAN CHANGES THE WEATHER

Bova's survey of man's effect on weather ranges from a favorable report on modern American cloud seeding projects to a cautionary reminder of how man has unwittingly changed his atmosphere by pollution. The chapters on environmental problems mostly reiterate familiar points at a naive level of analysis (the "activities and good ideas" of students' "Clean Air" auto races "have helped to spur the automobile manufacturers and the government to promote research into better auto engines"); Bova's contribution consists of putting it all in the context of weather modification and in terms of the special dynamics of "city weather." Other accidental weather changes such as those mused by Krakatoa are also mentioned and the status of man's efforts to control lightning, fog, hurricanes and tornadoes (all ably surveyed in Ross' Storms and Man, KR, 1971), are touched upon. The ultimate question of "should we control the weather" is left to readers to decide, although Bova seems to favor a world "where snow will come on schedule and never be allowed in cities, where there will always be fair winds for sailors and sunshine for us all." It's a competent, readable summary and will no doubt spark some lively classroom discussion, though in the face of the chilling possibilities he cites — not only the well known pollution horrors but also government-ordered rainfall to quell demonstrations, or weather warfare in which countries vie to muck up each other's climate — there is something a little unsettling about Bova's sunny detachment.