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China Is Splashing $168 Million To Make It Rain (fortune.com)
China, the world's second largest economy, is pouring 1.5 billion yuan ($168 million) into a program aimed at making it rain in its usually arid northwestern region. From a report: No stranger to using technologies like cloud seeding to influence and even control weather patterns, China's top economic planners recently gave the go ahead for what will be one of the country's largest weather-modification projects, reports the South China Morning Post. According to the Post, a feasibility study by the country's meteorological agency concluded that the three-year program could see a rise in precipitation over an area of 960,000 sq km, or as much as 10% of the country's landmass. The multi-million dollar budget allocated by the National Development and Reform Commission will reportedly cover the cost for four new aircraft and updates to eight existing planes, nearly 900 rocket launch systems and over 1,800 digital control devices.
Except what about the countries where that rain would otherwise have landed? Not such a problem if it would have landed over sea, but this will be in the middle of the continent. Not a very nice neighbour to have.
Oh great, one country hacks our elections, the other rains on them to affect voter turnout.
Table-ized A.I.
We'll all be taking golden showers!
I sure hope COBRA doesn't get their hands on this technology...
"Usually arid northwestern region" indeed. They'd have better luck doing what Africa is doing to combat the spread of the Sahara -- e.g. restoring grasslands.
This is ridiculously cheap for a government project by US standards. How come we didn't do it here in California a few years ago?
You can't change the amount of water in the sky. There are always enough nucleation sites for raindrops, especially in polluted China. And $168m isn't going to change global weather patterns.
Glad to see that China is becoming more like the US. Big contractors selling snake-oil to the government.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
Have enemy rain over enemy roads, turn them into muddy mess. Enemy tanks will stuck and sink in mud.
Imagine China doing that if they invade America http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hVOW2U7K...
So which country that is next in the prevailing wind direction will claim China is stealing water that was destined for them? Welcome to the climate wars.
Last time I tried to find documentation online I couldn't find it anymore but long long ago (2004 ish) two Australian professors designed a wind turbine shaped like an O that spins around its axle (a vawt) It was to be scaled up and planted in the ocean. At the bottom (center) it took water in that was swirled up the 2 arms where it was sprayed outwards from reasonable height. Most of the water would fall back into the ocean taking all of the salt with it (some 60% if I remember correctly(I usually don't)) the rest would vaporize into clouds. I didn't check their math or anything but they argued that an array of these would be needed to green deserts. Also interesting: It is a closed community but cloudbusters work.
gdewilde@gmail.com
They are talking about major modifications of ecosystems in the area that will receive more rain as well as the areas that will be depleted of rain that would have otherwise fallen. This will have enormous implications on the flora and fauna that live and are adapted to live in these areas. They should not be allowed to do this and Trump should threaten them with tariffs on any produce grown in these regions. Did they learn nothing from the Three Gorges Dam?
Pacman Jones can make it rain for a lot less money and accomplish about the same thing.
Shoot, A Fella' Could Have A Pretty Good Weekend In Vegas With All That Stuff.
The last thing they need is for it to be raining men.
...the idea of 'human induced climate change' now doesn't it?
... is a digital control device.
Let's fuck the world juuust a lil' bit deeper.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Sorry, this sounds like something that SPECTRE is more likely to exploit.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Sure the more carbon atoms you place in the atmosphere the heavier it gets and holds more water. But even if this ploy does work is is a real solution, or a band aid on a gaping gushing wound?
Don't be silly, climate change isn't real, it's a hoax created by China, as this article proves.
A rain shadow desert.
Any "countries where that rain would otherwise have landed" already got most of the moisture out of the air, which is why that place is a desert.
Cloud seeding is part of Chinese plan to build a Green Great Wall to stop the spread of the desert and the sandstorms.
Which seems to be doing something, at least in the sense that it is apparently lowering the water table in the areas where trees are planted.
Or that is at least what the opposition to the forestation program claims, suggesting instead simply fencing off the area and "nurturing the land by the land itself".
How would that create trees in areas which were "treeless in the last several thousand years", or how would temporary fencing off prevent sandstorms (even should grassland work that way) once the fences are removed and the grasslands are once again used for cattle grazing... the article doesn't mention that.
Then again, water levels have been dropping long before forestation project started. And trees are supposed to keep the water in the ground...
On the other hand, Epoch Times is more than a little a Falun Gong paper.
I.e. Whatever Chinese government does is wrong. While whatever Falun Gong does might get them arrested and "reeducated" by the government. Or harvested.
In any case, weather modification is being done in order to provide water for the Green Wall in the area which got desertified as the water from Shiyang River was used for irrigation upstream decades ago.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
That's a matter of interpretation of words. English is ambiguous, it has nowhere near the precision of say a programming language. I tried to keep it short rather than more accurate but fastidious and verbose because most readers in this context like it that way (for good or bad).
If a country exposes internal documents from one party but NOT the other party, and creates mass fake news stories in order to influence voter decisions, that is arguably still "hacking the election". If I wanted to say hacking the voting machines, I would have said hacking the voting machines. "Election" is a more general word/concept than "
I did not objectively say it wrong.
Table-ized A.I.
can't wait for the chinese rust belt...
Our major sports stars spend that much every month making it rain in strip clubs!
Maybe now the deniers will believe!
Get lots of trees growing. Stop diverting water for agriculture.
That probably also means killing off all the domestic animals as they eat young trees and destroy the moisture trapping understory, moving all the people out (who tend to do things like chop trees down and burn them), a few minor issue like that. Not really a problem if there's the will to do it.
I think this is an excuse to build up their military without drawing suspicion.
But I'm not sure that manipulating the weather (and later climate) patterns is a good idea in the long run.
Open Source Network Inventory for the masses! Kuwaiba
ArmoredDragon hereby announces to any and all hackers: Hack the United States! Hell, we welcome it! Come on down!!
Just make sure you only hack one party at a time. then it's OK. Hack them both, or hack the voting machines, then it's hacking. Anything less and it is a "cruel but fair" prank that "adds transparency" and is obviously "in the public interest". You know, because only one side has problems with political machinations. Thus, I suspect that hacking the Republicans would also be hacking in AD's eye's, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.
Since when has the Republican party become soft on crime?
"All Your Rain Are Belong To Us!"
To my knowledge, China is NO LONGER the world's second economy... They passed the US in 2015...
http://www.urbandictionary.com...
https://www.tenor.co/view/make...