DailyTech - China Plans to Force Rain Before 2008 Beijing Olympics

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Michael Hoffman (Blog) - May 14, 2007 1:36 AM

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17 comment(s) - last by Hawkido.. on May 21 at 12:57 PM

Does forcing rain work? Chinese meteorologists believe so!

Having it rain during the 2008 summer Olympics is just something unacceptable to Chinese Olympic officials. Since the National Stadium in Beijing was constructed without a roof, Chinese meteorologists may force rain several days before next year's opening ceremony.

Thirty years of weather records show that there is a 50 percent chance of rain on August 8, 2008, said Wang Yubin, a Beijing Meteorological Bureau engineer. As meteorologists are now waiting patiently for summer 2008 to roll around, the Chinese government has an ace up its sleeve.

Forcing rain is nothing new for nations such as China and the United States. We published an article about a year ago that reported Chinese scientists created artificial rain over Beijing to help end a drought that left dust virtually everywhere.

Technicians from the Beijing Weather Modification Office launched seven rocket shells that contained 163 small sticks of silver iodide into the sky. They claimed the resulting chemical action caused as much as four-tenths of an inch of rain. Along with helping get rid of pollution, the artificial rain also cleaned up dust that was left by the drought.

Assuming that the rain seeding does not harm the environment, I can't say that I have a huge problem with forcing rain -- if the technique truly works the way Chinese scientists claim. Cloud-seeding has remained rather controversial over the past several years. In 2003, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences claimed the science behind artificial rain was "too weak."

Of course, that didn't stop the U.S. from cloud seeding with silver iodide for nearly fifty years prior.

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Rain maker

By AlmostExAMD on 5/15/2007 6:34:10 AM , Rating: 2

I don't like it, Every action has an opposite reaction.
What's to say that the Chinese forcing rain over there is not contributing to the severe drought we are having here in my country(Australia),Unlikely I know but it's just another thing to think about.
Any scientist thought of that before their experiment,Not that they give a shit about anyone else over there in China.

On another note, When the land ice from Greenland and Antarctica melts China will have an even bigger dilemna with water to deal with other than a day of rain,Shanghai will be underwater and 20+ million people will be homeless,Hope they spend their money on clean/green technology for their massive industries instead of rainmaking!

RE: Rain maker

By P4blo on 5/15/2007 6:47:59 AM , Rating: 2

So true, hopefully we wont have to worry about China belching crap into the atmos for much longer as where are all those factories built? Right by the sea / rivers on low lying land!

China has massive problems heading its way and a large part are their own fault. I have real issues with economic boom the way the chinese do it. The environmental and humanitarian costs are way too high. Inda's just as bad. They're taking all this new business but the poverty there doesn't improve.

Rainmaking: might seem harmless on a small scale but if it became really popular it WILL have an effect on climates.

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RE: Rain maker

By darkblueslider on 5/15/2007 2:23:06 PM , Rating: 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_...
In tonnes per capita
1st Position: US Virgin Islands: 121.3
11th Position: US=19.8
99th Position: China = 3.2
How dare they produce so much CO2!

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RE: Rain maker

By essjae on 5/16/2007 3:49:36 AM , Rating: 2

That's per capita, when you consider that China has about 4.5 times the number of people, the actual CO2 production figures get a lot closer.

Also, China's come a long way since 2003 in terms of modernization and commercialization.

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RE: Rain maker

By Hoser McMoose on 5/16/2007 4:36:10 PM , Rating: 2

Compare the rate of growth though, from 1993 -> 2003:
United State: 18.9 -> 19.8 = 9.5% increase
China: 2.1 -> 3.2 = 65.6% increase

And you know what? Their rate of growth has INCREASED since then. China's CO2 emissions are now growing at ~10% per year.

Of course, it goes far beyond that, CO2 emissions are only relevant to global climate change and greenhouse gases. There is also the issue of air and water pollution where China has generally done VERY poorly. Several of the industrial cities in China have absolutely terrible air quality, mainly from the HUGE amount of coal they are burning in fairly inefficient and poorly regulated coal plants.

P4blo is correct, China has some very serious environmental issues that are headed their way, and they are largely of their own doing. The 'expand the economy at all costs' mentality has already left with several of the worlds most polluted cities, and things are likely to get a lot worse before they get much better.

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RE: Rain maker

By Hawkido on 5/21/2007 12:57:37 PM , Rating: 2

Well, that's an interesting point. However can we see the data calculated over Square Kilometers? Or broken down locally to cites based on Pop Density? It is the local concentration of pollutants that is devestating. China has began building 1 coal power plant a week for the last few years. I believe they have 400 to 600 plants in construction right now. None of them are efficient.

I believe the poster who stated a 10% increase per year is about right for China.

As to the US... Sure we produce alot of pollution, and we consume alot of Natural Resources... We also feed more non citizens than any other country in the world, we also export a phenominal amount of highly processed goods to the rest of the world. All in carefully monitored factories, that have an eye on their enviromental impact (some willingly, some not so willingly).

Why not break out that chart by GNP? GNP is a good measure of how much a country contributes to the world... or by Hydrochloric Acid consumption per capita (HCl is the chief indicator of a countries Industrialization level)

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Is it just me

By Rotkiv on 5/14/2007 9:27:48 AM , Rating: 2

or do you also find this funny

quote:
Having it rain during the 2008 summer Olympics is just something unacceptable to Chinese Olympic officials.

RE: Is it just me

By Alpha4 on 5/14/2007 3:09:26 PM , Rating: 2

I don't get it :(

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RE: Is it just me

By Ringold on 5/14/2007 5:13:52 PM , Rating: 2

I hope a massive high-pressure frontal area comes smashing across the continent pushing devastating squall lines ahead of it all the way, just to spite them. Their attempts at playing god might sap enough moisture out of the air (I assume thats the idea) to avoid the local kind of rain that naturally just forms on summer afternoons, but it'd do nothing in the face of serious convective mayhem.

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RE: Is it just me

By KristopherKubicki

(blog) on 5/14/2007 7:13:13 PM , Rating: 2

Heh, well I hope that doesn't happen for two reasons:

1.) We did this for 5 years in Vietnam as a weapon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Popeye

2.) I'm planning to be there during the games :)

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PacMan Jones, anyone?

By bplewis24 on 5/14/2007 10:25:02 AM , Rating: 2

If they really wanted to make it rain they could just extend an invitation to PacMan Jones. He may be out of work by that time anyway.

Brandon

RE: PacMan Jones, anyone?

By thatguy39 on 5/14/2007 4:39:24 PM , Rating: 2

lol, i was waiting for this one...

im sure you heard... he made it rain the day b4 he met wit the commish last week at the strip club.... he just cant help himself, PACMAN MAKES IT RAIN!

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Now I'm no Scientist...

By Sagath on 5/14/2007 9:31:01 PM , Rating: 2

And I don't mean to be nitpicking their obviously superior brains

quote:
caused as much as four-tenths of an inch of rain

But isn't that two-fifths?

RE: Now I'm no Scientist...

By KristopherKubicki

(blog) on 5/14/2007 9:46:46 PM , Rating: 2

Yes, but rainfail is always measured in tenths.

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Ask the russians

By Griswold on 5/14/2007 6:20:31 AM , Rating: 2

The russians surely can lend them a hand, they have decades of experience with making one day of the year a rain free day. They did the same (or so they thought) for many years for the military parades on may 9th. :p

Same for Calgary

By gmyx on 5/14/2007 7:28:01 AM , Rating: 2

They do the same for Calgary to reduce the size of hail. It used to be big enough to cause severe damage to crops. Now it's more a nuisance.

Rain is not the problem

By cheetah2k on 5/14/2007 10:28:40 PM , Rating: 2

I reckon they've got more chances to force rain, than what they have of changing the attitudes of the local people from being down right utter rude, to patient well-mannered people.

I stood in line at the local MacDonalds in Beijing not long ago, and i was about 30cm from the front counter. I had 3 people push in (in that 30cm space) before i could even say.. "big mac meal please!"

The air pollution is terrible in the bottom end (Macau-Hong Kong) and i reckon the northern provinces of China would have to shut down their factories for at least 2-3 weeks before the games, and the whole time during, so that the skanky, rubbery smelling soot in the air can dissapate.

I wish them good luck!