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Q: What exactly is shot into the sky to "make it rain"?
I heard yesterday that Beijing is going to "make it rain" (not the Fat Joe/Lil Wayne kind) on Thursday if the pollution doesn't clear up. What exactly goes into doing such a thing? I heard that Beijing was shooting something into the sky during the Olympics to the same effect, but to my understanding, that was more a rumor than a fact. Is there any detailed information on this process and how often Beijing (or other cities) do this? Is it safe (or safer than breathing copious amounts of PM2.5)?
11 years 12 weeks ago in Health & Safety - Beijing
It's not a rumor. The send a missile full of silver iodide, if I'm not mistaken, science happens , and bam, rain/snow.
It seems to be common in China, but is supposedly safe (but again, milk was supposed to be safe too).
Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but I remember seeing a bright flash at night, before it magically started snowing in beijing, about 2 years ago. Snow missiles. Hell yes.
What Mr Spoon said ^^^^
I remember reports that the Russians did it for the Moscow Olympics back when. Basically when they saw a storm coming a few Kms before it hit Moscow (or the other event areas I assume), they'd hit the storm with that stuff and the rain would fall. By the time the cloud got to Moscow it was empty.
Not so sure I'd want it falling on my head if I was in Beijing though.
Yes. It apparently works, if there are rain clouds present. China used it to clear up smog before the Olympics, and to cause rain outside Beijing during the Olympics.
Non-Chinese scientists are sceptical about the Chinese claim that this is proof that the Chinese can control the weather.
the concept is called Cloud Seeding. I think NASA has also played around with it back in the day, and it is today used in most of the world. As The Spoon says it is silver iodine.
If you haven't yet heard, cloud seeding is a form of whether modification that involves "seeding" clouds with silver iodide, salt or dry ice in the hopes of increasing the size of water or ice particles in the clouds to, ultimately, get more rain. Whatever is used, it acts a neclei for moisture in the air to condensate upon, and thus producing raqin or snow, depending on ambient temperature. It also helps to reduce fog, and silver iodine is used around many airports in "foggy" times. By removing moisture, fog density decreases
There are three cloud seeding methods: static, dynamic and hygroscopic.
Static cloud seeding
involves spreading a chemical like silver iodide into clouds. The silver iodide provides a crystal around which moisture can condense. The moisture is already present in the clouds, but silver iodide essentially makes rain clouds more effective at dispensing their water.
Dynamic cloud seeding
aims to boost vertical air currents, which encourages more water to pass through the clouds, translating into more rain. Up to 100 times more ice crystals are used in dynamic cloud seeding than in the static method. The process is considered more complex than static clouding seeding because it depends on a sequence of events working properly. Dr. William R. Cotton, a professor of atmospheric science at Colorado State University, and other researchers break down dynamic cloud seeding into 11 separate stages. An unexpected outcome in one stage could ruin the entire process, making the technique less dependable than static cloud seeding.
Hygroscopic cloud seeding
disperses salts through flares or explosives in the lower portions of clouds. The salts grow in size as water joins with them. In his report on cloud seeding, Cotton says that hygroscopic cloud seeding holds much promise, but requires further research.
My grand pappy used this at his sugar cane farm around the early 50's, and nI accompany the expert doing it. He was successful most of the time.
