China is creating its own rain to combat drought. Here's how

Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 7:28 PM - In effort to combat the ongoing drought in northwest China, the country's National Development and Reform Commission has approved a rainmaking project that will cost 1.15 billion yuan ($221 million CAD).

A study published by the China Meteorological Administration has revealed that if cloud seeding is successful, rainfall and snow could be increased in an area of 960,000 sq km, which is equivalent to 10 per cent of the country's territory or 1.7 times the size of France, according to South China Morning Post.

It will take about three years for the project to be completed. The funds will be used to purchase four new planes, upgrade existing aircraft, develop up to 900 rocket launch devices and connect over 1,850 devices to digital control systems, the news agency reports.

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China will modify the weather through the process of cloud seeding, which has become common across the country in recent years. In 2011, the government spent more than 1 billion yuan ($197 million CAD) on a similar project in the country's northeast.

Cloud seeding has also been used to clear the air during major public events and to help mitigate choking smog in cities like Beijing.

"In hot, dry weather, there is still going to be some water vapour in the air, and there may even be clouds," says The Weather Network meteorologist Scott Sutherland. "However, conditions may be too warm to produce natural ice crystals, or so dry that any precipitation that does fall simply evaporates before it hits the ground. In these cases, it's possible that more precipitation can be produced by adding artificial ice crystals, such as frozen carbon dioxide (aka dry ice) or silver iodide, which is a compound with a structure similar to ice crystals."

The western region of China including provinces like Gansu, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang have experienced little rain recently and cloud seeding will help with things such as water resource allocation and forest fire prevention, according to South China Morning Post.

From 2006 to 2016, artificial rainfall enhancement had increased precipitation by 55 billion cubic metres, the news agency highlights.

While cloud seeding has been used all over the world and here in Canada for decades, some experts argue there is not enough research on long term impacts.

SOURCE: South China Morning Post | China Daily | Mashable