China To Take on Mother Nature at 2008 Olympics
March 25 2008 / by Venessa Posavec
Category: Technology Year: 2008 Rating: 7
Apparently China has a lot to prove at this year’s Olympics, not
just to the world, but to Mother Nature herself. After all, what
other city but Beijing can boast a governmental department called
the Weather Modification Office? To ensure the event goes off
without a hitch, China’s pulling out the technological stops to
keep the spectators and skies rain-free. 
First, they’ll track the weather using a combination of satellites, radar, and an IBM supercomputer purchased from Big Blue. Then, armed with 7,113 anti-aircraft guns and 4,991 rocket launchers, they’ll shoot the bejesus out of any incoming rain cloud. Weapons are loaded with a variety of fun chemicals like silver iodide, dry ice, and liquid nitrogen, which will work by flushing clouds of rain before they pass over the stadium.
China’s been experimenting with ‘weather engineering’ since the 50s, and has had success producing good weather at national events for the past five years. They claim that in the past 7 years alone, they’ve managed to create over 250 tons of rain to irrigate their land. It works so well that the government allocates almost $90 million annually to the Weather Modification Office, and plans to expand the budget in 2010, making the Office into a separate government ministry.
Though I’m fascinated that China has had this much success with weather modification, I’m curious what kind of implications this has for our global future. There must be some kind of Butterfly Effect involved, though there probably hasn’t been any research yet to explore it. For instance, could China’s weather manipulation have caused a tsumani or hurricane in another part of the world? If more countries begin controlling their weather patterns, will we see an increase in global weather-related disasters? Which government or world organization will have to take responsibility to regulate these actions? Could the day arrive when Weather is part of a military’s arsenal?
(via Technology Review)
Comment Thread (1 Response)
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I’ve been to Beijing and the pollution there was intense. It will be a tall order to put a dent in that wall of smog. But I wish all those weather-makers, athletes and visitors luck!
Posted by: FutureFly March 26, 2008
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