Claim: Pictures show overloaded clouds that fell to the ground in Mithi in Sindh’s Tharparkar.
Fact: The claim is false as it is scientifically impossible for clouds to fall on the ground. Multiple experts have explained that the white blobs are likely some kind of industrial waste, wastewater with chemicals or just pollution, meaning that the claim is false.
On 29 July 2024, Facebook user ‘Azad HansRaj Diplai’ posted (archive) four images with the claim that they show clouds that fell to the ground in the Mithi city in Sindh’s Tharparkar district. One of the photos features a minor child posing in front of the said “cloud”.
The Facebook user captioned the post as follows:
“۽ جڏھن ٿر پارڪر۾ ھڪ برساتي بادل ڪري پيو 😜 ٻڌڻ م اچي پيو ته مٺي جي ڀرپاسي ڪجھ ذريعن جو چوڻ آھي ته مٺي کان پري آھي ننگر جي ويجھو موسم جي تبديلي جي وجه سان ھڪ بادل زمين ته ڪري پيو. 😏 Overloaded clouds fall in Mithi Tharparkar ☁️🌨️🙈
[And when a rain cloud fell in Tharparkar 😜 I heard that some sources around Mithi say that a cloud fell to the ground due to the change of weather near Nangar, which is far from Mithi. 😏 Overloaded clouds fall in Mithi Tharparkar ☁️🌨️🙈]”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first observed that multiple people had already flagged the claim as dubious in the comment section of the post. Some said the foamy substance was likely produced by chemicals or showed bubbles from the city’s drainage system or sewerage line. Others opined that it was wastewater from Mithi seen somewhere on Chelhar bypass or that it was simply dirty water. A few just termed it a lie.
It is physically impossible for clouds to “fall” down on the ground as they are essentially condensed water vapours.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS), “Clouds are formed when air contains as much water vapor (gas) as it can hold. This is called the saturation point. […] Saturation, therefore, is reached through evaporation and condensation, respectively. When saturation occurs, moisture becomes visible water droplets in the form of fog and clouds.”
Fog and clouds are only different because of their different altitudes, with the former being “visible moisture that begins at a height lower than 50 feet” and the latter called as such when the visible moisture “begins at or above 50 feet”.
Moreover, there are multiple reasons why clouds float or remain suspended in the air and do not fall to the ground.
According to a Scientific American article, Douglas Wesley — then a senior meteorologist at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research’s (UCAR) Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) — responded to the question, “Why do clouds float when they have tons of water in them?” in May 1999.
Clouds comprise small water droplets and ice crystals, if cold enough, he wrote, adding, “The vast majority of clouds you see contain droplets and/or crystals that are too small to have any appreciable fall velocity. So the particles continue to float with the surrounding air.”
Clouds can often weigh as much as an aeroplane. But since their mass is spread over too large a space, their density is small, stated the United States Geological Survey (USGS). They do not fall on a person “because the rising [denser] air responsible for its formation keeps the cloud floating in the air”, it added. Apart from air resistance, another force holding the clouds up in the air is “the convection of air [which] creates an upward force”, according to ZME Science.
Only when the cloud droplets become large enough not to stay in the cloud itself do they turn into raindrops, leading to rainfall given the right conditions. The cloud itself does not.
What do experts say?
Soch Fact Check reached out to Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Chief Meteorologist Dr Sardar Sarfaraz to inquire whether there could be any truth to the claim.
Dr Sarfaraz explained that clouds are made up of vapours but can be seen nearer to the ground in particular areas, such as mountainous regions, allowing humans to observe them closely.
“For example, when you are at or near a mountain at 10,000 feet, you can see the clouds next to the mountain; these are the low clouds. Such sights are visible in localities such as Murree, Naran, Kaghan [Valley], Chitral, some parts of KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] and other northern areas. In Karachi, when you see clouds floating at 2,000-3,000 feet in this season [monsoon], it is because of strong sea breezes,” he said.
The meteorologist noted that another phenomenon often witnessed in mountainous regions is a cloudburst, which occurs when there is a lot of rain in very less time.
“For example, 100 millimetres [of rain] in half an hour or an hour [is] a phenomenon called cloud burst, in which all moisture or water content available in the clouds precipitates downwards, meaning it rains too much in less time. But this phenomenon, too, is more relevant to mountainous regions,” he said.
Dr Sarfaraz told Soch Fact Check he had never heard of clouds falling to the ground. “This ‘clouds falling’ thing… this is the first time I’m hearing of this. Can’t believe that people make such tall claims too,” he said.
“Note also that it hasn’t rained that much either, like [how it does in] cloud bursts, there has not been very heavy rain,” he added, saying it rained 30 to 40 millimetres in Mithi a day or two prior (25 or 26 August). “There has been no torrential rain at all in any area [in Sindh]. There’s definitely no question of a cloud falling on the ground.”
Soch Fact Check also reached out to other experts in climate science and industrial waste to understand what the white blob could be.
Dr Kerry A. Emanuel — a professor emeritus of Atmospheric Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) working on climate research, especially global warming and atmospheric convection, as well as hurricanes — told us that the “white globs” seen in the viral images “are certainly not clouds”.
“I have seen similar formations when foam from the sea or a salty lake blows onshore, but this is just speculation on my part,” he said.
Dr William Hogland, a professor in environmental engineering and recovery (PhD) currently teaching at the Linnaeus University’s Department of Biology and Environmental Science, said that according to him, the blobs look “like foam and could come from an industry or industrial activity” or “foam from fire fighting”.
“A meteorologist can probably tell that this is absolutely not any cloud,” noted Dr Hogland, whose areas of research include hydrology, integrated industrial water and waste management, automated systems for recycling and reuse, and waste management economics.
Soch Fact Check came across two reports of similar blobs observed in India’s Yamuna River in November 2021 and March 2023. Keeping that in mind and seeking a comment about the claim in question, we reached out to Professor T.R. Sreekrishnan, who works at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi’s (IIT Delhi) department of biochemical engineering and biotechnology and whose areas of research include waste engineering, development of environmental biotechnology, and toxic industrial waste streams.
“I too think that this is foam blown out of some water body by wind. Most commonly, such foam formation is seen in polluted lakes/rivers. They are also quite common in wastewater treatment plants using aerobic biological treatment processes,” he told us.
The professor further stated that the statement — “overloaded clouds falling to the ground” — is “scientifically untenable”.
Lastly, ‘Azad HansRaj Diplai’, the Facebook user who posted the claim in question, also replied to multiple comments saying their post is “just for fun”. In response to a comment about the images likely showing “dirty fog” or the blob being “produced intentionally by a chemical”, the user wrote that they agreed.
In the same post, ‘Azad HansRaj Diplai’ also used the Facebook option to share how they are feeling and chose “feeling silly” alongside the 🤪 emoji that is also known as zany face.
Moreover, in the comments under a separate post that questioned the legitimacy of the claim in question, a user shared a slightly low-quality picture that shows a similar white blob in a ditch with a pipe nearby. The image strengthens the argument that the blob is actually a product of polluted water, possibly including some kind of chemical.
Users responded to the claim in some other posts as well, saying it was not possible for clouds to fall to the ground and that the white blobs are most likely a result of industrial or chemical waste or polluted water.
Soch Fact Check has also reached out to officials of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) for a comment in this regard. This fact-check will be updated if and when they respond.
While climate change is definitely real, the claim in question is false and has nothing to do with it.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook, here on Instagram, and here on X (erstwhile Twitter).
Conclusion: It is scientifically impossible for clouds to fall on the ground. Multiple experts have explained that the white blobs are likely some kind of industrial waste, wastewater with chemicals or just pollution, rendering the claim false.
Background image in cover photo: Paxson Woelber
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