How Corporate Greed Is Ruining Bali, And Why Farmers Want Justice

Image Credit: Amanda Froelich
Image Credit: Amanda Froelich


Sweat drips down my brow as I walk, panting, up a never-ending hill in Ubud, Bali, just before stepping off the path into the rice paddies.

It’s supposed to be “rainy season” in Indonesia, but the sun beats down and villagers around me mop at their foreheads, catching droplets of sweat before they trickle into the crinkled ridges around their eyes.

Their faces speak of remorse, as well as some worry.

When I go to see my friend Wayan, a favorite coconut water supplier and Balinese friend, we begin chatting about the hotter-than-normal temperatures and the reasons why it does not rain.

“People in the hotel,” he says in his broken English, “they shoot the lasers, and that is why it does not rain.” 

“The lasers?” I ask, somewhat confused.

“Yes, they not like rain for ceremony, so they shoot big expensive laser into cloud to make rain disappear.”

He tells me that the heat is affecting community members in Bali – all over the island, to the point which they cannot sleep in the evening because it is too hot.

Credit: RediceCreations.com
Credit: RediceCreations.com

Unaffected, the weather would pour down and supply much-need moisture to the rice fields. Tampered with, the seasons do not progress as expected and everyone suffers.

Everyone, of course, except those profiting from the clear skies.

Intrigued and upset at the injustice being done against the Indonesian farmers, I began investigating what the “lasers” are, where they come from, and how they are affecting the weather patterns and, in effect, causing the Balinese people to suffer.

Here’s what I found: 

Cloud ‘seeding’, as it’s known, is a practice which was pioneered in the US in the 1940’s.

According to Scientific American, cloud ‘seeding’ involves inducing rain by firing silver iodide or dry ice into a cloud, simulating the natural salt, dust, and other tiny particles in the atmosphere that help water droplets form.

In theory, the practice could be used to trigger rainfall far out at sea or over uninhabited land – as well as keep it away from a major event.

The rice paddies are cracking in result of the drought.
Cracking rice paddies. Image Credit: Amanda Froelich

While it was shared in 2013 that scientists were deliberating whether or not to use the technique to control weather patterns at all, it’s reportedly already in use and has been used for events like the Beijing Olympics in China.

Indonesia is a hop-skip away from other Asian countries, so it’s not surprising the technique is already being utilized. Ask any local in rural Bali and they’ll tell you the same thing: “Hotels are using lasers to keep the rain away.”

The elite in Indonesia, according to many Balinese locals and expats, are using the ‘lasers’ to keep rain clouds away, as rain is “bad for business.” 

For profit, then, the weather is being altered and farmers, especially, are being punished for corporate greed.

According to the BBCeven those who don’t farm could suffer as the World Bank says that the price of rice could rise by 10% due to failed crops.

Image Credit: Amanda Froelich
Image Credit: Amanda Froelich

One study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, validates what the Balinese are whispering about.

The researchers reported:

“Under conditions typical for thin cirrus ice clouds, the plasma channels [laser] induced a surprisingly strong effect of ice multiplication.

Within a few minutes, the laser action led to a strong enhancement of the total ice particle number density in the chamber by up to a factor of 100.

The newly formed ice particles quickly reduced the water vapour pressure to  ice saturation, thereby increasing the  cloud optical thickness by up to three orders of magnitude.”

They said the results “open the possibility for laser modification of natural cirrus clouds or the artificial seeding of cirrus clouds.”

Like chemtrails, this concerning topic demands more facts. That can only happen, however, if activists like you start the conversation and demand transparency from the companies utilizing these practices to boost their own business.

*Note: No one wanted to be quoted for this article, as the Balinese fear repercussion from those in power. (Wayan is a very common name, therefore, was not a concern). That should tell you something.

Spreading the word to change this injustice is step one, and people in this developing nation are asking only that. If you have more information or personal anecdotes on the technique(s) being used to control the weather patterns, please comment below and share this news. 


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