China aiming to tame weather
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E-mail China Daily, September 5, 2013
Man can conquer nature, so goes an ancient Chinese saying that highlights human power.
In a move appearing to support that saying, China plans to boost its weather intervention through a national plan.
The plan, running from 2013 to 2020, will divide the country into six regions and set up an interprovincial mechanism for weather control, Yao Zhanyu, a senior researcher of the Weather Modification Center under the China Meteorological Administration, told China Daily.
Each region will build infrastructure and a command center for weather intervention, according to Yao.
Programs in northeastern, central and southeastern areas will be used mainly to guarantee the wheat harvest, and the northwestern program will be for environmental protection, Yao said.
He added that the southwestern program will focus on ensuring the operation of agriculture and hydropower, while the northern program will be concerned with guaranteeing water supplies.
China modifies weather mainly to increase rain or snow and prevent damaging weather such as hail, fog and rainstorms. Cloud seeding is the major weather modification activity in China.
According to Yao, the northeastern region — covering Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and parts of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region — was selected as a pilot area to test the coordination system after the National Development and Reform Commission approved a feasibility report in May 2012.
The report said the project will invest nearly 1.1 billion yuan ($177 million) by 2014 to build a regional weather intervention system in northeastern China, including 12 weather intervention airplanes and ground-based facilities.
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