{"id":20007214,"date":"2013-11-28T14:46:54","date_gmt":"2013-11-28T14:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=7214"},"modified":"2020-10-01T20:39:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T15:09:09","slug":"china-to-use-artificial-rain-to-combat-air-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/china-to-use-artificial-rain-to-combat-air-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"China to use artificial rain to combat air pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"read<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Weather manipulation is being suggested as a means to alleviate the country\u2019s worsening smog<\/strong><\/p>\n

After attempts to combat air pollution by\u00a0quitting smoking<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0banning outdoor barbecues<\/a>, officials are now looking to use artificial rainfall to bring back blue skies.<\/p>\n

A recent document released by the China Meteorological Administration has said that by 2015 local weather authorities will be able to use weather manipulation – mainly artificial rainfall – to improve air quality when heavy smog occurs, according to the\u00a0Beijing News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The document, an implementation proposal for the\u00a0Airborne Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan<\/a>, was produced as part of the Chinese government\u2019s high profile campaign against air pollution. In late July, China\u00a0announced a two-year 1.7 trillion yuan investment plan<\/a>\u00a0to tackle its worsening air pollution.<\/p>\n

With cities in China experiencing the\u00a0most frequent smog spells<\/a>\u00a0in five decades this year, the use of artificial rain to tackle air pollution by the authorities is hardly a surprise. Earlier this year, local authorities inLanzhou<\/a>,\u00a0Chengdu<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Wuhan<\/a>\u00a0all included artificial rainfall as a smog reduction option in their heavy air pollution contingency plan.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s weather authorities have long been using artificial rainfall to\u00a0clear the skies<\/a>, though arguably not merely for smog reduction. In August 2008, Beijing used artificial rainfall to ensure a dry night for the Olympic opening ceremony. Later in 2010, Shanghai local authorities contemplated using artificial rainfall to\u00a0improve air quality<\/a>\u00a0during the World Expo trade convention.<\/p>\n

According to statistics from China\u2019s weather authorities, between 2002 and 2012 China used artificial rainfall to unlock nearly 490 billion tonnes ofprecipitation<\/a>\u00a0nationwide.<\/p>\n

The proposed smog reduction measure was cautiously welcomed by some experts.<\/p>\n

In an interview with\u00a0the People\u2019s Daily<\/a>, Guo Xueliang from the China Meteorological Administration said artificial rainfall is a relatively effective way of reducing air pollution.<\/p>\n

Liu Junfeng, a professor of the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University, told\u00a0chinadialogue<\/em>\u00a0that \u201cwhether it can work will depend mainly on the cost and effect of artificial rainfall.\u201d However, Liu added, using artificial rainfall to alleviate smog \u201cmight be able to solveBeijing\u2019s water shortage<\/a>\u00a0at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the director of the environmental ministry\u2019s official think tank perceived artificial rainfall as only a palliative. \u201cWhen the smog is severe, artificial rainfall is like emergency treatment for a critically ill patient,\u201d said Xia Guang. \u201cIt may temporarily alleviate air pollution. But if we want to be rid of smog, there are many aspects to aim our efforts at,\u201d Xia was quoted as saying by\u00a0Xinhua<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the feasibility of using artificial rainfall to tackle air pollution has been questioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is almost impossible to reduce smog and improve air quality by means of using artificial rainfall under the current weather modification technologies,\u201d Hong Yanchao, the deputy director of the National Consultation and Evaluation Committee for Weather Modification, told\u00a0chinadialogue<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There are certain weather conditions that must be met before conducting artificial rainfall, such as humidity and ice crystal concentration, according to Hong. \u201cUsually smog weather does not meet these conditions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weather manipulation is being suggested as a means to alleviate the country\u2019s worsening smog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20000140,"featured_media":20005785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[760],"tags":[14274,14713,551,597],"hashtags":[],"country":[20000110],"class_list":["post-20007214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pollution","tag-air-pollution","tag-cities","tag-health","tag-technology","country-china"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChina to use artificial rain to combat air pollution | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weather manipulation is being suggested as a means to alleviate the country\u2019s worsening smog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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