The Chinese State Council officially announced the country’s intention to control the climate. Although China has already used climate manipulation programs, this project promises to go further and reach a scale never seen before. This time, the government pledged to manipulate clouds and change rain, hail, and snow regimes artificially to gain greater control over its agriculture, natural disasters, and ecosystems.
The document issued by the Chinese government provides that the country “will have a weather modification system developed by 2025“, Which will cover a total area of more than 5.5 million square kilometers for the operation of artificial rain or snow. In addition, to suppress hail it should exceed 580,000 square kilometers. This represents more than half of the Chinese territory, almost 60%.
Similarly, the statement provides that “By 2035, China’s climate modification should reach a global advanced level in terms of operation, technologies and services”.
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Environmental impacts of “cloud seeding”
As explained by the Chinese Council, weather modification it will imply a fundamental solution for certain phenomena that threaten the territory. In this sense, the government promises the management of “disasters like droughts and hail”, As well as disaster assistance, agricultural production, and response to forest and grassland fires.
The truth is that the process of “seeding clouds” is not something new. It was in the late 1940s that the possibility was discovered that silver iodide crystals can form ice crystals in water vapor. Since then, scientists have been working to understand how to alter the way water forms and moves within clouds.
As explained by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Operational programs to artificially modify the weather – including those designed to dissipate fog, stimulate precipitation of rain and snow, and reduce hail, are taking place in more than 50 countries”.
However, according to the WMO, this type of process presented Historical difficulties in demonstrating the impacts of these interventions on the climate. “Despite decades of research, deep skepticism still surrounds cloud seeding, due, in part, to the challenge of verifying its effectiveness, establishing causes and effects”, They explained in a report.
Particularly, regarding the environmental impact that the policies proposed by the Chinese government, Xulio Ríos, Director of the China Political Observatory and founder and president of the Galician Institute for International Analysis and Documentation (IGADI), told Profile what “It is difficult to establish well-founded forecasts since there are few experiences in this area and even more so at that scale.”. But he explained: “Undoubtedly, for China what it is about is improve the management of its water resources, which have deteriorated greatly in the last 40 years as a result of developmentalism”.
In this sense, Ríos emphasized that “not enough studies have been carried out to evaluate the effects derived from the massive use of silver iodide”. However, he stated that, considering the Chinese scenario and the deterioration of its resources, “for Beijing, any risk is acceptable awaiting further assessment of overall environmental consequences”.
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Possible regional tensions
As Ríos explained, this project can bring about a series of regional conflicts. “The impact, to the extent that it affects neighboring countries, can add elements of discord in your neighborhood diplomacy“, he claimed.
In this sense, he highlighted the problems that today revolve around the Mekong River, which flows through six countries: China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. “There has been some controversy over that river for years over the reservoirs and Chinese power plants that do not take into account the impact downstream”, He added. In this context, he opined that “there could be a serious problem with the region’s water resources”.
While the project is expected to help reduce disasters and protect the environment by avoiding fires or very high temperatures and droughts, causing clouds to discharge in one country can have consequences in neighboring countries. Therefore, it could affect India (a country with which China already has border problems in the Himalayas), Nepal, Burma, Vietnam, among others.
Even a report by researchers from the National Taiwan University warned that Lack of coordination in weather manipulation activities can lead to accusations of “rain theft” between neighboring countries.
CG/FL
