China builds a 'rain machine', which can generate 10 billion tons of artificial rainwater

In an effort to solve some of the problems of fresh water shortage, China is developing tens of thousands of chemical "rain machines". The goal is to produce 10 billion tons of rainfall on the Tibetan plateau.

According to Popular Science, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Group (CASC) has developed silver iodide furnaces placed in Himalayan mountains at altitudes above 5,000 meters. These "rattan seeders" will stimulate the steam coming from the Indian Ocean to create rain, which they cannot do by their geographical characteristics of the northern Tibetan Plateau and the Qaidam basin. The northern areas will sink in "rain clouds" ; Low-altitude clouds are blocked by the southern part of the Himalayas.

Rain production furnaces are designed to operate in high environments, low oxygen levels, burning fuel to discharge silver iodine into the atmosphere, mixed with clouds, crystals into ice droplets that produce precipitation.

But how does everything work? To produce rain, the incinerator of a chemical fuel creates smoke associated with silver iodine. When silver iodine rises and mixes with clouds, it crystallizes, creating a precipitation chain reaction. To increase efficiency, rain producers will connect to a computer network using weather satellites to align the time to release silver iodine at cloudy intervals.

Such "manipulation" weather behavior has been successful, just not on such a large scale. China has deployed hundreds of rain-generating plants in Tibet, with promising results including individual rain-generating plants that create clouds up to 5km in length.

This lush Himalayan valley may soon spew more water if China's ambition to control the weather is implemented.

If the project proves successful, 10 billion tons of additional rain will be useful not only in the Tibetan plain, but also for other Chinese plans, including additional projects from South to North, taken water from the Yangtze River to the Golden River (both rivers originate in the Himalayas and will benefit from rain) and water the deserts in the Tarim basin (north of Tibet). These plans also contribute to the growing demand for new water supplies, due to global climate change that melts Himalayan glaciers, providing much of Asia's freshwater resources.