Articles about the country of China
Hello Artificial rain must be used to irrigate mountain plains, three times the size of Spain. At least, this is the plan for the last weather management project in China.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) South China News Service, the system includes solid fuel burners, unmanned aircraft, aircraft, artillery and meteorological satellite networks covering the vast area of the Indian Ocean. The goal is to create a distributed system capable of combating climate change and increase the amount of rainfall in the region to 10 billion cubic meters, or about seven percent of China's annual water consumption.
However, although the first report indicates success, project technology and artificial rain in general - has its critics. Some refer to the unproven nature of this technology, while others fear that the project could increase international tensions in unstable regions.
China's new project provides the deployment of thousands of cameras that burn solid fuel in the Tibetan plateau. When the combustion process takes place, the chamber will produce silver iodide. Iodide acts as a condensate for water molecules in the air. Since all the water molecules gather around the iodide molecule, they become heavier and fall to the ground like rain or snow. This process is called cloud sowing.
Every year, a wet monsoon wind from the Indian Ocean sweeps north toward the Himalayas. Real-time data collected from a network of 30 meteorological satellites monitoring rainfall activity will ensure that fuel combustion coincides with optimal conditions to bind rain to the iodide released by the burner, increasing the amount of rainfall and snowfall. The Combustion Network will be aided by cloud sowing, by drones, aircraft and even artillery, to maximize its effect.
SCMP, referring to an unnamed scientist working on the project, said that 500 combustion chambers have been built, and preliminary results are very promising. According to the report, the cost of the camera burned about 8000 dollars. After the completion of the "tens of thousands of cameras" will be located across the Tibetan plateau. The goal is to increase the amount of rainfall in the region of approximately 1.6 million square kilometers (620,000 square miles), making it the largest artificial rain project in the world.
Climate change is the main reason why China is implementing this project. According to SCMP, climate models predict that severe drought will occur in this area due to rising temperatures and decreasing regional precipitation. This poses a significant risk to China and its neighbors, because the Tibetan plateau is an important water source for most of the region.
Increase the desire to control the weather
China is working on technological ways to manipulate the weather, including finding ways to collect or distribute clean water for years, including at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Another recent proposal is the so-called "Sky River" project, first announced in 2016. The goal is to increase water supplies in northern China by evaporation of water and the use of northern airflow to transport steam to the north.
Closer to the ground, weather manipulation is suggested as a way to combat high pollution levels in many major cities in the country. The project envisions the installation of a large sprinkler system outside the skyscrapers. Spraying water into the air will bind toxins and gases with water, thereby reducing the toxic smog.
China is not the only country doing weather management projects. By 2016, 56 countries have such a program, compared to 42 in 2011.
The idea was well known during the Vietnam War. Project known as Popeye operation. The goal is to increase the amount of rainfall in the rainy season to make the atmosphere difficult for enemy fighter jets. According to the Paleofuture article, the unofficial nickname of an Air Force pilot performing the mission was "dirt, not war."
Final approval of the project by Chinese authorities has not been made, but has raised concerns in other regions of China, as well as in neighboring countries. Manipulating the weather to get more rain on Tibetan plains can lead to decreased rainfall elsewhere. Tibet is also often called the water tower in Asia and is a source of rivers such as Brahmaputra, Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow River.
Can increased rainfall in a given geographic area affect how much water goes into each river? This issue remains unanswered, and this concern extends to other weather management projects around the world.
Critics also point to the feasibility of untested weather manipulation
Ma Weiqiang, researcher at the Institute for Studies of the Tibetan Plateau of the Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, called this experiment "unprecedented," but he doubted the camera's ability to influence the weather.
"I'm skeptical about the amount of rain they can generate, the weather system can be huge, it can make all human endeavors in vain."
Other researchers are more optimistic about the potential inherent in these projects.
even a 10 percent increase in rainfall or snowfall could cost that, "said Bart Hertz, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Wyoming University.
It is possible that such experiments with the weather will be more dangerous than good. The increased desire of each country to maximize production regardless of the natural balance of ecological systems can lead to unprecedented natural disasters.
