China is preparing the largest ever artificial rain. Its goal is to increase the amount of precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau.
Summertime clouds and rainfall in North Texas.
By Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)This image was made by Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)Email the author: David R. TribbleAlso see my personal gallery at Google Photos CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], from Wikimedia Commons
The Sky River project was prepared by experts from the Tsinghua University. Based on the available information it will rely on a technique known as cloud seeding. To put it simply, you take silver iodide and spray it into the clouds from either a plane or a rocket. The particles of silver iodide then server as condensation cores – small ice crystal form on them and those then fall to the ground as rain. Five hundred special “boilers” were used so far to produce silver iodide and the distribution was done simply – by the wind.
Modifying the weather in Tibet is a critical innovation to solve China’s water shortage problem. It will make an important contribution not only to China’s development and world prosperity, but also the well being of the entire human race.
*Lei Fanpei
So far it is unclear when exactly will the Sky River will start but it has already sparked controversy. For example, Janos Pasztor from the Carnegie Climate Geoengineering Governance Initiative says that cloud seeding on such a massive scale can alter the weather at a completely different location and those locations would then be “robbed” of precipitation that would otherwise happen there and not over the Tibetan Plateau.
Sources:
- http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2138866/china-needs-more-water-so-its-building-rain-making-network-three
- https://gizmodo.com/chinas-ambitious-new-rain-making-system-would-be-as-big-1825536740
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