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China Modifies Weather For 2008 Olympics
BRock97 writes: "An article in the August 5th issue of Newsweek describes the steps the Chinese are taking to ensure a perfect forecast for the 2008 Olympics. This includes shutting down factories that are pumping pollution into the atmosphere to increasing the number of trees planted to reduce dust and erosion (need to spread these kind of ideas world wide!). The interesting aspect, though, is all the research and development into using rockets and furnaces to modify the atmosphere and create the weather that would be optimal for the games. By heating the air or dumping cloud condensation nuclei into the atmosphere, various types of weather can be achieved. Seems that they have had success as far back as 1987, creating rain to help put out a raging forest fire. Cool stuff from a weather nerd standpoint."
The Chinese government announced a new tactic for enforcing state-controlled censorware: Lightning.
You'd be surprised. There have been a few studies in the US regarding the effects of polution on weather, and the results are pretty interesting. Basically, any area centered around a major population or industrial center will have consistently different weather on the weekends, when most plants are closed and there's not so much commuter traffic.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
... they'll be killing all of the butterflies. They're in the way of the Three Gorges Dam anyhow.
- Changing Our Weather One Smokestack at a Time
- Thunderstorms are affected by Pollution (May 2002)
- Tiny Particles of Pollution May Carry Large Consequences for Earth's Water Supply (December 2001)
Dust can also have an effect on rainfall. For a more general view of aerosols and there effects on climate change check out an aerosol fact sheet.I realize these links have a bias for NASA but NOAA is also actively researching this area.
.:: proud supporter of dc united
That's it, tps12. I've been reading your overly dramatic posts for awhile now and you've finally made it on to my 'foe' list.
Weather is an inconvenience, not a threat.
The people who die in hurricanes, typhones, mudslides, droughts, tornadoes, and so forth may disagree with you.
We need to concentrate on using our biological and biotechnological knowledge and research to solve world hunger (by growing so-called "super food" and eliminating pests), stablize primitive nations (using factory-produced soldiers so none of our sons need die), and put an end to child labor (by creating affordable and reliable robotic labor in the world's developing regions).
There's more than enough food on the planet to feed the starving people. The problem is not technological, it's a problem of politics and distribution. Besides, if you're against fooling with Mother Nature regarding the weather, why are you so gung-ho about "eliminating pests"? As far as your other two examples, I don't even know where to begin...
Never mind the fact that the primitive cultures, and even Christianity (see, e.g., the Bible) often attribute the workings of weather to divinity.
So weren't supposed to be laisse-faire on the weather because primitive cultures believe the winds to be controlled by the gods?
The weather is quite literally a phenomenon that occurs in the domain of the Heavens.
Actually, the weather occurs in the domain of the atmosphere.
But when we start to presume that we can control the weather, then we are on the road to our own destruction.
Y'know, in spite of the fact that you're written a moderately lengthy post, you never once gave us any real reason why the weather is, as you put it, "not the kind of thing we should be messing with."
This post of yours is even worse than that one you made about the giant squid.
GMD
watch this
Gee whiz. Fly off the handle much?
If you read the article you'd know that they're talking about induced rain. That's all. You know there's going to be a soccer match in three days (or whatever), so you put silver iodide in the clouds to make it rain. Get much of the moisture out of the local atmosphere, reduce the likelihood of rain next week. It's a very localized and very well understood process. The hitch, of course, is getting the right amount of stuff into the atmosphere at the right time and in the right way. It's all in the delivery.
Besides, the article is worth it for the headline alone: "Rain called on account of game." LOL.
For the communist party's 50th anniversary in 1999, China did the same thing.
Since the Party had decreed that there would be perfect weather for such a momentous occasion, they shut down factories around Beijing for the entire week beforehand. Then a day or two before, they seeded the clouds, so that it would rain the day before the celebration, but be Perfect Weather in Tiananmen Square for the Day.
And indeed, the weather was perfect. The smog had disappeared, and the sky was clear and blue...
(* After a tornado destroyed a town a few years back, Clinton (it might have been Gore) promised to devote federal money to research on preventing tornadoes in the American Midwest. *)
It is based on the theory that hot air generated from speaking politicians reduces tornado frequency.
Table-ized A.I.