Earlier this week, China announced its plans to expand an experimental weather modification program that expects to cover an area of 5.5 million square kilometres. Geographically speaking, the 2.1 million square miles would be 1.5 times the total size of India. According to a statement from the State Council, China will have the “developed weather modification system” by 2025.
Over the next five years, the total area covered by artificial rain or snowfall will reach 5.5 million square kilometres and will be covered by hail suppression technologies. The idea is to help control the weather to protect farming areas and to ensure clear skis for key events. In the past, we have seen China shut down factories to reduce smog and avoid running ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. With this new move, China will have a program that will look at aiding disaster relief, agriculture productions, and emergency responses to forest fires.
Cloud Control
The idea of cloud seeding has been around as long as Comeon India. It works by injecting small amounts of silver iodide into clouds with a large amount of moisture. This condenses the clouds around new particles, which makes them heavier and eventually lets loose precipitation. Supposedly, cloud seeding can boost snowfall across wide areas if the atmospheric conditions are favourable according to a recent study. The study found that cloud seeding works, which creates practice for snowfall.
China has not stopped investing technology into the weather. Between 2012-2017, the country spent over $1.3 billion on various weather programs. According to the results, the investment has been worth it. In a key agriculture area in Xinjiang, China’s weather modification programs reduced 70% of hail damage.
A Sense Of Alarm
While the dream would be able to control the weather with a travelling weather app, many countries see the advances that China has made over the last decade. Even the United States has adopted the practice of cloud seeding. While China’s enthusiasm for growing technology is well-documented, it has also created a sense of alarm from other countries, specifically India.
In India, agriculture is heavily dependent on the monsoon. With climate change, the monsoon has been disrupted and has become less predictable. In a hotly disputed face-off between India and China, the two sides engaged in a bloody clash earlier this year. With China’s advancing practices, one has to believe that China has the upper hand on India, especially given the importance of weather conditions and troops movement patterns.
There are experts that believe China’s success in weather modification could lead the country to take on even more ambitious projects in the future. There could be radical solutions thrown into the mix, such as seeding the atmosphere with reflective particles, which would hypothetically help reduce temperatures. However, these theories could bore unforeseen consequences. With a pandemic already forcing many to live in a world of the unknown, the idea of tinkering with the weather on a global scale has to be a terrifying thought.