China declares war on rain

The UK weather reports we're reading/seeing are very disturbing.

I recall the stresses everyone felt in East London each time there was an exceptionally high Thames tide - all before the Thames Barrier was built of course. But I can't really imagine what going through a true flood must be like. I think I read somewhere that the Thames Barrier might be obsolete if the current rainfall trends persist - maybe the UK Govt should take a leaf out of Beijing's book.

Starting or stopping the rain -- Beijing reckon they can control it!




From the ">Telegraph:

The weathermen in Beijing are moving ahead with plans to fire rockets to disperse rain clouds, an experiment aimed at securing more sunshine during the 2008 Olympics.
Chinese officials have said historical records show there's a 50 percent chance of rain for the opening ceremony -- and the same probability of rain during the closing ceremony.

Last month, a top-ranking weather official acknowledged that seeding clouds to produce rain -- and dispersing rainmaking clouds -- was immature technology.

"Dispersal is more difficult than rainfall enhancement," said Wang Yubin, assistant chief engineer with the Beijing Meteorological Bureau. "In rainfall dispersal, we are still in the experimental stage but we are continuing our efforts."

And this ... rockets to start the rain ...

Cannon and rocket-launchers protect Beijing from their vantage point in the Fragrant Hills, just as the Great Wall nearby has done for centuries. But they are aimed not at the Mongols, or more recent enemies such as the Americans or Russians. They are pointing up into the clouds and their foe is thirst. The Fragrant Hills gun emplacement is part of China's ever-more desperate quest to counter its chronic water shortage. Whenever the sky clouds over, the guns fire shells containing a chemical, silver iodide, that is supposed to precipitate rainfall.

China has the largest rain-seeding programme in the world, with two military aircraft, 30 cannon and 20 rocket-launchers dedicated to the task around Beijing alone.

If the procedure works, it can be criticised as stealing other people's water. The Govt. acknowledges that there have been "questions" from South Korea across the Yellow Sea.

It's crazy, in China 300+ million people are rumoured not to have access to clean drinking water -- meanwhile, there are luxurious golf clubs on the edge of deserts with the greenest of greens.

The contrast with the polluted water available to the poor is increasingly a major cause of unrest. Two villages in Zhejiang province are in the hands of rioting residents, who have driven out police and closed down factories they blame for poisoning the water supply.

And who really knows what environmental impact these attempts will have in the longer term?

M