Eat Your Heart Out, Al Gore
China has found the secret to combating climate change: Artillery.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is preparing an arsenal of rockets and aircraft to protect the Olympics opening ceremony from rain, hoping to disperse clouds before they can drench dignitaries at the roofless “bird’s nest” stadium.
Officials believe there is a 47 percent probability of rain during the August 8 opening ceremony and a 6 percent chance of a heavy downpour and will try to drain humidity from clouds before they reach Beijing.
More than 100 staff at 21 stations surrounding the city will have 10 minutes’ notice to fire rockets or cannons containing silver iodide at approaching clouds in the hope of making them rain before they reach the stadium. Three aircraft will also be on stand-by to drop catalysts to unleash rain from the clouds.
I want to know how Chinese meteorologists are so accurate. A 47% chance of rain on August 8th? I can’t get an accurate forecast for a barbecue next week here. Maybe I need to call in the air force.
related articles
- Sure, Make It Exciting After I Leave (August 29th, 2008)
- Iran, Get with the Times. C’mon. Seriously. (July 12th, 2008)
- The Iranian Threat: Photoshop (July 10th, 2008)
- Careful With Your XBOX Live Gamertag (June 17th, 2008)
- Wither Free Speech? (June 6th, 2008)
April 12th, 2008 at 10:38 am
that is something really to think about. and chinese interfering with nature can be catastrophic for them in future.
April 12th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I’m a bit worried for China. There’s so much heat on them right now for what they’re doing in Tibet–and what they’re doing is terrible and should be stopped–but the average Chinese citizen is not in control of this situation and are guilty merely by association. I hope they can pull off a decent Olympics and force China to open their borders (Internet and press freedoms) a little wider. Their people deserve respect from the West. Decades of oppression, centuries of civil war…
April 13th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Its a big disastrous that china has been involved in nature. This is something to consider. Right now the heat is right above the head and what they are doing is not good. They should have control over the situation.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
China’s government has a very heavy handed approach in all things, even the weather. The Chinese, and Tibetan, people bear the brunt of it and that’s not going to change until their government does. I do hope that the country opens up more, but I don’t see it being a rapid or smooth transition.
April 16th, 2008 at 3:18 am
It’s all about the money, and me myself and I attitude of course.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I’ve got to say this a worrying lead up to the Games. With the Pollution levels the way it is in Beijing. I think this will go down in history as the worst Olympics in history! Sorry to say!
April 16th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I agreed with Bape, think the time left to clear up all the mess is getting shorter. Hope thing will work out fine, else will be a big shame.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Not getting into the political discussion, but I wont if this weather strategy will be effective?
April 16th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
‘wont’ should be ‘wonder.’ My bad…
April 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I think they are leaving this as a last resort and are doing this to be on the safe side. If some expert says that there is a 47% chance of rain then they must do something about it.
If firing some chemicals in the air prevents rain on the opening ceremony of the olympics then they should fire those rockets just to be on the safe side
April 18th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
That is something important to consider. China must not been involved in nature for the Games…
April 18th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I don’t think that you can be that accurate with the weather, especially that far in advance. Well see what happens, hopefully it will be something completely unexpected.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:39 am
sounds really scary. if it works then world over there will be arms race to control the environment which will be more devastating than a nuclear explosion.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
That is a great question and I want to know if this works please keep me up dated.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Hehe…When I first read this…I thought they were trying to blow the clouds out of the sky.
Seriously though…I think it should be fine.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Come on, those are just prediction. No one can be that accurate. If you read about meteorology a bit, you will see that predictions are never accurate, especially when it comes to 30 or more days in fornt.
June 1st, 2008 at 9:10 am
I am very much impressed by the efforts done by the country to make the opening ceremony of the Olympics safe. These efforts are worth appreciating and they should not be neglected. They should be honored for doing these efforts.
June 1st, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I’m not quite as impressed, Marc. Preventing a rainy day by using artillery and jet fighters is playing pretty fast and loose with the idea of ’safety’.
Of course with the levels of China’s pollution, perhaps that rain really should be avoided for safety reasons.