Chinese officials are preparing to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent rain marring the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympic Games next year. Meteorologists will team with the military to fire rockets into the sky in an extreme form of climate control if rain looms.
"Our experiments and research have shown that we can only artificially reduce the level of rainfall on a comparatively small scale," Wang Yubin, deputy chief engineer of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau (BMB), said.
Wang said aircraft and rockets would be used to spread silver iodine and dry ice high into the air to control moisture.
He said the agents were expected to act like catalysts, targeting rain-heavy clouds and inducing rainfall before the clouds reached the Olympic venues.
The Olympic Games will begin on one of the most auspicious days on the Chinese calendar – August 8 or 8/8/08 – with many Chinese believing the number eight be the luckiest of all.
Officials rescheduled the Games from its original timeslot of July 25-August 10 to avoid wet weather.
Beijing powerbrokers expect athletes to compete in warm, humid and often thundery weather next year amid fears of heavy pollution.
China has already issued a raft of strict edicts, including the targeting of unscrupulous taxi drivers and the introduction of heavy fines for spitting in public.
Beijing plans to ramp up its climate control efforts this year, with officials hoping to control an area with a radius of 120km of the National Stadium.
Analysis of weather records from 1971 to 2003 shows there is a 50 per cent chance of rain souring the Games’ opening ceremony next year.
But the weather rockets have a good chance of clearing the sky, according to BOCOG Executive Vice-President Jiang Xiaoyu.
Wang confirmed organisers would deploy planes, rockets and other modern artillery to combat both rain and hail.
He said the city conducted six experiments around the Olympic precinct last year. Three planes are already available and two more will arrive by July to join the exercises.
These are aimed at establishing three lines of defence around National Stadium.
Via News.com.au
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