CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS · PUBLIC RECORDS · REGIONAL BRIEFINGS
Signals
Current developments, public records, regional briefings, and atmospheric observation resources — sourced, restrained, and verifiable.
The public paper trail
Weather modification and solar geoengineering are publicly discussed, tracked, reported, and regulated. These are the primary federal sources — go to them directly to verify anything you read here.
Geoengineering: Government Action
How the EPA identifies and tracks potential solar geoengineering (SRM) activity in the United States — including its 2025 inquiry into the startup "Make Sunsets" and its public transparency resources on contrails and weather modification.
Weather Modification Project Reports
NOAA's public library of filed weather-modification reports. Under the Weather Modification Reporting Act of 1972, anyone intending such activity must file with NOAA at least 10 days beforehand. NOAA maintains the record but does not regulate the activity.
15 CFR Part 908 — Weather Modification Reporting
The federal rule, "Maintaining Records and Submitting Reports on Weather Modification Activities." §908.3 lists the activities that must be reported — from cloud seeding to modifying the solar-radiation exchange of the earth through released gases, dusts, or aerosols.
NOAA Should Strengthen Oversight
A 2025 Government Accountability Office review of weather-modification reporting. Of 1,084 reports in NOAA's database as of February 2025, only four described solar geoengineering; GAO estimated over half of filings had errors or missing information.
Where the bills stand, by state
A mirror of public legislative trackers. Live status, bill text, and links resolve to SRM360 and LegiScan — and, where available, the state legislature's own bill page.
Cloud seeding, on the record
Cloud seeding is a localized weather-modification practice that uses agents such as silver iodide to encourage rain or snow from existing clouds. These activities are publicly reported under federal requirements — the cards below summarize what is documented, not what is alleged.
REPORTED UNDER 15 CFR §908
What a filed weather-modification report contains
PRACTICE
Cloud seeding
A localized weather-modification practice that disperses agents such as silver iodide into existing clouds to encourage rain or snow. It is the most common form of weather modification and has been used for roughly 80 years, often to augment precipitation during drought in the western U.S.
FEDERAL RECORD
Weather modification reports
Operators file reports under federal requirements (15 CFR Part 908). Each filing is listed in NOAA's public database — 1,084 reports as of February 2025, according to the GAO.
WHO FILES
Program operators
Public agencies, water districts, and private operators that conduct seeding. Ten states had reported active weather-modification programs as of July 2025, each with a permitting or licensing process.
WHERE
Target areas
Most active programs are concentrated in drought-prone western states: California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, and Idaho. Programs also operate in Texas and the Midwest, primarily targeting snowpack and agricultural rainfall.
HOW
Delivery methods
Aircraft-based flares and ground-based generators are the two primary delivery systems. Aircraft fly deliberate patterns — long parallel passes or repeated transects — releasing silver iodide to promote ice-crystal nucleation in clouds.
DOCUMENTS
How to find the filings
All reports are public. Search NOAA's weather modification database at library.noaa.gov. Filter by state, operator, or year. The GAO report (GAO-26-108013) contains analysis of the full dataset.
Current developments, sourced
Articles, reports, video, and media on weather modification, cloud seeding, solar-geoengineering research, legislation, and public reporting. Every item links out to its original source.
EPA publishes "total transparency" resources on geoengineering & contrails
New online resources address public questions on solar radiation modification, weather modification, and cloud seeding — and detail related federal and state actions.
GAO: NOAA should strengthen weather-modification oversight
Federal auditors found reporting forms largely unchanged since 1974 and estimated over half of filings contain errors or missing information.
State bans & proposals tracker updated
A running tally of state-level bills addressing solar geoengineering and weather modification, with status from "proposed" through "approved."
The US barely bothers to track geoengineering
Reporting on the GAO findings and the gap between filed weather-modification records and what actually happens in the sky.
EPA head promises 'total transparency' on geoengineering and contrails
NBC News coverage of the EPA administrator's public statements on solar geoengineering transparency, contrail research, and weather modification.
EPA inquiry into startup "Make Sunsets"
The agency requested information from a company releasing sulfur-dioxide balloons to reflect sunlight — the first known federal inquiry into a commercial SRM operator.
All items link to original public sources. Language reflects documented facts only — nothing here constitutes medical, legal, or political advice.