RhenMyster

With all of that argument that may or may not have to do with my original topic, you are all in favor of me saying in the book: "It rained hardly ever, once or twice a year at the most. Many didn't understand why, but most agreed it had to do with the lack of care and consideration from the government's lethargic disposition." And the rest is up to the assumptions of the readers?

This is a good idea, but I really would just like it to be caused by perhaps an over-bearing, evil dictator who only cares about "ruling the world" so to speak. But nothing like an earth quake in Anarctica. And nothing to do with God's wrath; religion is in the book, but it's a different kind of religion ith different punishments. I just need this: The dictator is screwing up the world so badly that rain is scarce, so new irrigation systems are made and water is produced like oil, where prices are growing higher and higher. The absense of rain is important, but I don't want it to be like "The Day After Tomorrow" or anything. It's more about the characters and their influence, whether good or bad, on the world.

Okay...so no rain is basically out of the question without destroying the world. But! I'm flexible, so don't worry. How about a system where rain fall is scarce in many parts of the world, particularly the US? Perhaps it rains about once to twice a year? Would the world survive that? And if so, what would cause that?

Wow...that was incredible. A completely interesting look on it, if what all you said is true. (And considering this forum, if you're not, you'll be called on it in no time.) So blow up the moon? Any idea how that could, in someone's naive mind, be beneficial?

Ok, I think I'm making this more difficult than it should be. What I need for my story is a way the rain would stop for at least 20-25 years. Could that be possible? People can die, land can be killed, the world could go crazy, etc.

Let me pose another question. Perhaps the evaporation is taking place, but the precipitation is never falling to the ground. Maybe the clouds just are cooling off enough for the rain to form and fall.

Yes, I know. Which is why I immediately posted this topic on a lot of these Science Forums, just to see if my story has a possibility. The idea of a world corrupted and torn to shreads because of money is what keeps the men in control dying out without rain. But first, I wanted to know how could rain stop and what would happen if it did. But thanks for all the information. Any other suggestions are well appreciated.

I voted "No, on other grounds." Lets say the technology was built just to cure babies of deformed physical features or weak immune systems, but the science wouldn't stop with just those options. You would be able to do so much more, even if the former ideas were in mind at first. But it's like the speed limit on a car. Yeah, the law wants you to stay under thirty-five, but you know your car can do so much more, so you let it. That's what would happen to the technology. They would see their child and say, "I know I'm only suppose to use it like this, but could we add some intelligence into him?" If this were to happen, you would most certainly crash your car terribly. So I vote No.

Well, actually, I want to set the story in the future (Not flying car future and pill-sized meals). But I need the world in a terrible condition, where only the strongest countries are surviving because of greedy, dictators that only care for their country's success. So, in this thoery, it's okay if third world countries and other not-so-powerful countries die off.

I'm writing a story and for it, I want to know if rain (or precipitation rather) is necessary for life. If rain is just the cycle (and forgive me for not knowing the true technical terms for this) is just evaporation of the ground water into clouds that cause precipitation back to the ground, then do we really rely on rain? I know crops dry up if it hasn't rained for a long period of time, but if say today was the last day for the rain due to pollution or something, would we be able to survive? Could we not irrigate? Or is it vital for it to rain? On a further note, what could cause the end of precipitation?