THE CAUSE OF CLOUDBURSTS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22335, 24 February 1938, Page 7

THE CAUSE OF CLOUDBURSTS

ro ras EDITOR or rua peess gi r May I make a few remarks on the cause of the dreadful disaster at Kopuawhara? It has been stated that it is only through the agency of swollen streams that cloudbursts can do damage; that their causes are entirely beyond the control of man; than no human wisdom or foresight could have avoided their occurrence; and that they are an “act at God.” On the contrary, cloudbursts and the allied phenomena of electrical storms are two warning signs of the revolt of Nature against man’s folly iri destroying forests. Cloudbursts and electrical storms cannot occur in Well afforested countries, because th.e clouds arid forests form tW6 plates of a huge diectro-static condenser,, and they mutually co-operate to discharge the rain and electric charges, harrhlessly, by "the influence of points;” when thd clouds are at a high altitude. Destroy the forests and the swollen, heavily-charged clouds Have tb descend low before they cart discharge to earth; and them they discharge suddenly and violently as electrical storms and cloudbursts, emptying pirhdps Biifidfeds of thousands of tons bf rairt wafer over a very small area. Where there may be no streams, carrying death and destruction With them. God nUnde the forests—Mart destroys thferh. Why blame Qbd for the cloudbursts? etc., _ . THOMAS. A. . F- .STONE, R.E.., . A.M.1.M.-E- , Auckland, February 20, 1938.