China to force rain ahead of Olympics

[shawmut]

Source: AP

Wed Apr 25, 10:12 AM ET

BEIJING - Chance of showers during the 2008 Beijing Olympics: 50 percent. But Chinese meteorologists have a plan to bring sunshine.

The meteorologists say they can force rain in the days before the Olympics, through a process known as cloud-seeding, to clean the air and ensure clear skies. China has been tinkering with artificial rainmaking for decades, but whether it works is a matter of debate among scientists.

Weather patterns for the past 30 years indicate there is a 50 percent chance of rain for both the opening ceremony on Aug. 8, 2008 and the closing ceremony two weeks later, said Wang Yubin, an engineer with the Beijing Meteorological Bureau.

The forced rain could also help clean Beijing's polluted air, said Wang Jianjie, another meteorologist with the bureau

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_sc/china_fake_rain

[bananas]

1. related story from the other day - "Chinese make first artificial snowfall"

"China is the world's largest practitioner of rain-seeding ... It employs 37,000 people on the programme"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2813916

[Joanne98]

2. The Chinese must have seen The Truman Show!

[Canuckistanian]

3. Foolishness

Just because they managed to get a few experiments to work doesn't mean they can magically make it rain at will. Wherever they want.

Hubris.

[ohio2007]

4. OBVIOUSLY THEY CAN NOW FIX GLOBAL WARMING...

make every day cloudy around the hot spot deserts
lol

btw,
who gave them plans to the weather machine?

[Javaman]

5. Actually I have it on good information that they

bribed the rain god with coke and loose women.