BBC Learning English

In this programme, Sam and Neil talk about ways to manipulate the weather. You’ll hear from two people about cloud seeding and geo-engineering.You’ll also learn some related vocabulary along the way.

The wettest village in the world gets nearly twelve metres of rain a year. Where is it in the world?

a)     Irelandb)     New Zealandc)     India

Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 

drizzlingraining lightly

meddlingtrying to change or influence something which is not your responsibility or without being asked

playing Godacting as if you have unlimited power and can do anything you want

excusereason given to explain why you did something wrong, or did not act in a helpful way

waxed and wanedfirst increased/grew stronger and then decreased/grew weaker over time

taboosubject that avoided for social or religious reasons

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

SamHello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Sam.

NeilAnd I’m Neil. Agh, it’s raining again, Sam! I’ve had enough! It’s been drizzling, that’s raining lightly, all week…

SamI know what you mean, Neil. Living in a wet country like Britain I sometimes wish I could push a magic button and stop it raining.

NeilAnd ironically, people living in hot, dry countries need rain but don’t get it. If only we could control the weather…

SamIt’s funny you should say that, Neil, because you’re not the first person to have that idea. In this programme, we’ll be hearing about ‘cloud-seeding’ and ‘geo-engineering’, two controversial methods scientists are using to manipulate or change the weather. And as usual, we’ll be learning some new vocabulary as well.

NeilAnything that stops it drizzling sounds good to me, Sam.

SamI hate to disappoint you, Neil, but these ideas involve making more, not less, rain. We’ll learn the details soon but first I have a question for you about the wettest place in the world, a village which gets nearly twelve metres of rain a year. But where is it? Is the wettest village on earth found in:

a) Ireland?b) New Zealand? orc) India?

NeilWell, it rains a lot in Ireland doesn’t it, so I’ll say that’s where the wettest place on earth is.

SamOK, Neil. We’ll find out if that’s the correct answer later in the programme.

NeilThe first type of weather manipulation we’ll hear about is a way of getting snow and rain out of clouds known as ‘cloud seeding’. Airplanes fly through the clouds and spray chemicals to make water particles freeze and stick together as snowflakes. These then fall as snow which builds up during winter before melting in spring to help water crops.

SamListen as Charmaine Cozier, presenter of BBC World Service programme, The Inquiry, speaks with Professor Katja Friedrich, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado:

Charmaine CozierThe first cloud seeding experiments took place in the 1940s. In the years since, scientists are often accused of meddling with nature.

Professor Katja FriedrichPeople are thinking, yeah, you’re putting some substances in the atmosphere that should not be there. Usually I respond and say, every time you get into your car, every time you get on an airplane you put substances in the air that don't belong, so you're also playing God.

NeilBecause everyone needs water, cloud seeding is becoming more and more popular, with scientists from over fifty countries using the method to extract rain from clouds. But some critics accuse these scientists of meddling with nature – trying to change something which it’s not their responsibility to change.

SamIn other words, they’re accused of playing God – acting as if they have unlimited power and can do whatever they want.

NeilUnlike cloud-seeding, the next type of weather modification has never been tested and is still just a theory. ‘Solar geo-engineering’ aims to reduce global warming by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth, back into space. This involves putting tiny particles called aerosols into the stratosphere - the band of sky twenty kilometres above the surface of the earth, about twice as high as airplanes fly.

SamAlthough it’s never been tested, the method is controversial, as Charmaine Cozier discussed with Harvard University professor of engineering, David Keith, for BBC World Service’s, The Inquiry:

Charmaine CozierHow controversial is this area?

Professor David KeithThere's lots of controversy around solar geo-engineering - and for good reason. People are, I think, sensibly scared that this could provide an excuse that allows countries or companies to avoid doing the work that has to be done to cut emissions. But in fact, controversy has really waxed and waned over time, so in the early work on climate change in the 1960s, and 70s and early 80s, these ideas were just part of the way we talked about what might happen about climate change. And then, as climate change became more politically central, say in the 90s and 2000s, there was really a taboo.

NeilDavid Keith believes that geo-engineering could provide an excuse for inaction on climate change – a reason for countries to explain why they did not take action.

SamHe says controversy over the method has waxed and waned - an idiom connected with the cycle of the moon which describes something that increases then decreases over time. In the 1960s for example, geo-engineering was uncontroversial, but by the 1990s it had become taboo - a subject that is avoided for social or religious reasons.

NeilWhile these ideas to change the weather have potential benefits, other suggestions - for example to position a giant floating mirror between the earth and sun - are highly controversial… Although personally, I think the idea of giant floating umbrella above Britain would be good!

SamHa! Well, just think - there are even rainier places to live Neil, as I asked in my question: in which country is the world’s rainiest village?

NeilI guessed it was in Ireland.

SamWhich was… the wrong answer, I’m afraid. In fact, Mawsynram, the world’s wettest village, is in the Khasi hills of north-eastern India. With around twelve metres of rain a year, I guess it’s not somewhere you’ll be visiting, Neil! OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned starting with drizzling which means raining lightly.

NeilIf you’re meddling you’re trying to change something which is not your responsibility or without being asked to.

SamSomeone who is playing God is acting as if they control everything and can do whatever they want.

NeilAn excuse is a reason you give to explain why you did something wrong.

SamIf something waxed and waned, it grew stronger then weaker over time.

NeilAnd finally, a taboo is a subject that avoided for social or religious reasons. Once again, our six minutes are up! Bye for now!

SamBye!