China fired fireworks to fight rain for Olympic

An army around Beijing will shoot silver io to the clouds so that no water droplets will reach the sports venues.

China has recruited an army of peasants to fight the rain: Hundreds of people around Beijing are ready to protect the sky against the coming clouds. According to the official website of the Olympic Games, 26 bases around the capital are the starting point to shoot clouds. Each place is equipped with 4 anti-aircraft guns to fire on the clouds and rain before they reach Beijing.

The Chinese government recruited many people around Beijing to shoot rain clouds with old anti-aircraft guns.Photo: Reuters.

People shot silver iodide. This "cloud injection" technique has actually been around for decades. Dry ice or liquid nitrogen is also appropriate. When introduced into the cloud - either from an airplane or shot from the ground - they will cause cloud water to condense around small iodide droplets. Water drops formed and rain began to fall.

The Chinese are not the first to want artificial sunshine for a major event: Russia also does not want to have rain on the anniversary of the victory of Nazi Germany and sends airplanes to the air in time to against the clouds.

Silver iodide for "cloud injection" was first used in the United States in the 1940s. The military was very interested in this technique. During the Vietnam War people were injected into the clouds above the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Weather forecast every hour with IBM supercomputers

Fear of having rain in the opening ceremony and during the competition is reasonable, because August is one of the most rainy months in the area around Beijing. Mr. Guo Wenli, director of Beijing Climate Center, predicts the possibility for a dry opening day of 50%. Scientists estimate that during the 2-week round of the Olympic Games, an average of 1 rainy day every 3 days.

To be able to make such long-term forecasts, researchers have just bought an IBM supercomputer last year. They want to accurately monitor the weather in an area of ​​44,000 km2 and provide weather forecast every hour - for every 1 km2.

In fact, rain protection can be simpler: To keep 91,000 spectators in the Olympia stadium dry, people just need to pull the roof over this bird nest - the usual thing in other stadiums. . In the draft of Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron were also intended. But it was crossed out. Chinese people think it's too expensive.

"A cloud does not want to rain, it will not rain"

Whether or not it is effective is still controversial. "Many studies on cloud effects do not show a significant effect at all," said Stephan Borrmann from the University of Mainz Institute of Atmospheric Physics. "A cloud does not want to rain, it will not rain". Even so, there are many weather control programs around the world.

It is also possible that the time for conducting the Olympic Games will be dry without the need for a cannon. "Smoke and aerosols in the air will stop the rain , " Borrmann said. If you look like that, Beijing is actually equipped with anti-rain very well - the city is suffocating in the smoke. But Chinese people are also looking for ways to improve air quality. To achieve this goal, it is better to have rain. "For the rain", according to Borrmann, "is the best way to keep the atmosphere clean".