China plans large rainmaking network on Tibetan plateau
- 6 years ago
TIBETAN PLATEAU — China is embarking on its largest weather-modification project yet, as it attempts to bring more rain to the Tibetan mountains.
Climate models predict that the Tibetan plateau, which holds Asia's biggest freshwater reserve, could see severe drought due to decreased rainfall and rising temperatures, according to the South China Morning Post.
In response, the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is building combustion chambers to turn solid fuel into silver iodide for cloud seeding, and placing them on steep mountainsides.
Winds help produce an upward draft that sweeps the particles into the clouds, where they then induce rain or snow.
The plan is to bring precipitation over an area spanning 1.6 million square kilometers, or three times the size of Spain. Five hundred chambers have so far been deployed in Tibet and Xinjiang.
The science behind the project may not be groundbreaking, but it's the first time such a large scale use of the technology will be attempted.
Climate models predict that the Tibetan plateau, which holds Asia's biggest freshwater reserve, could see severe drought due to decreased rainfall and rising temperatures, according to the South China Morning Post.
In response, the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation is building combustion chambers to turn solid fuel into silver iodide for cloud seeding, and placing them on steep mountainsides.
Winds help produce an upward draft that sweeps the particles into the clouds, where they then induce rain or snow.
The plan is to bring precipitation over an area spanning 1.6 million square kilometers, or three times the size of Spain. Five hundred chambers have so far been deployed in Tibet and Xinjiang.
The science behind the project may not be groundbreaking, but it's the first time such a large scale use of the technology will be attempted.