China controleert het weer tijdens de Olympische Spelen
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China controleert het weer tijdens de Olympische Spelen
China plans to stop weather from raining on Olympic parade
Chinese meteorologists say they have had some success with experiments to try to guarantee that the opening of the Olympic Games in August is rain-free. There has been much interest in China's attempt to reduce pollution ahead of the Olympic Games - but that is just one area of intense activity. There is also a team of scientists working on reducing rainfall, to try to ensure that the Games' Opening, on August 8, goes as smoothly as possible. At a news conference, Beijing Meteorological Bureau deputy chief Wang Jian Jie announced that the work is beginning to pay off. "Since 2006, we've been doing some experiments using seeding to reduce rain precipitation," he said. "We've been comparing results and they have improved." The scientists explained that, depending on the temperature, they have been seeding clouds with liquid nitrogen or silver iodide, to try and curb rainfall.
Beijing often bears the brunt of violent storms and heavy rainfall during late summer.
Unconvinced
Climatology and water resources expert, Professor Roger Stone from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), says while the work sounds interesting, the international scientific community will not be convinced until detailed results are published. "I was in Beijing one year before the Olympics are due to start this year, and sure enough, Beijing was hit by particularly intense thunderstorms and what we call strong convective activity," he said. "I can see there would be some interest in reducing that type of storm activity, because that could indeed have some impact on the running of the games. Professor Stone says there have been some scientific advances in using silver iodide, salt and other particles to enhance rainfall. "That work has at long last started to appear in the international scientific journals," he said. "But to be honest, I'm not aware of the scientific validity of turning it the other way around, although I could see there may be processes that could be put in place to reduce precipitation in some circumstances. "But by jingo, you'd have to get the exact and precise circumstances in place for this to be effective."
War on weather
As the meteorologists work on manipulating the weather later this year, officials across the country are struggling to cope now with the worst winter the country has seen in decades. Heavy snowfalls and freezing conditions have left hundreds of thousands of people without power.
The outages have led to the cancellation of trains, just as millions of migrant workers try to head home for the Lunar New Year holiday season.
Hundreds of thousands of travellers have been stranded ahead of the peak holiday season. One worker said he had been stranded for 10 days. "I've already been standing here for ten days. In these ten days I've drunk boiled water everyday," he said. "I've drunk iced water. You see, I'm as thin as a monkey." The chaos saw Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao travel to the southern city of Guangzhou to address the crowds at the train station with a megaphone. In a rare political event, he apologised for the inconvenience. "I have come to see how everyone is," he said. "You're all suffering. Everybody wants to go home. We totally understand how you're all feeling. "But I can tell everyone now that we are doing as much as we can to improve the situation. The number of roads open, the number of cars back on the roads are going up. "We're doing everything in our power to get everyone back home to their families as soon as possible." There are some signs that the situation is easing in some parts of China, but forecasters are predicting several more days of severe weather. And with frustration growing among those stranded, the official Xinhua news agency has spoken of the need to wage "all out war" on the weather chaos.
Bron: ABC News | Gewijzigd: 13 februari 2017, 11:56 uur, door Joyce.s
Chinese meteorologists say they have had some success with experiments to try to guarantee that the opening of the Olympic Games in August is rain-free. There has been much interest in China's attempt to reduce pollution ahead of the Olympic Games - but that is just one area of intense activity. There is also a team of scientists working on reducing rainfall, to try to ensure that the Games' Opening, on August 8, goes as smoothly as possible. At a news conference, Beijing Meteorological Bureau deputy chief Wang Jian Jie announced that the work is beginning to pay off. "Since 2006, we've been doing some experiments using seeding to reduce rain precipitation," he said. "We've been comparing results and they have improved." The scientists explained that, depending on the temperature, they have been seeding clouds with liquid nitrogen or silver iodide, to try and curb rainfall.
Beijing often bears the brunt of violent storms and heavy rainfall during late summer.
Unconvinced
Climatology and water resources expert, Professor Roger Stone from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), says while the work sounds interesting, the international scientific community will not be convinced until detailed results are published. "I was in Beijing one year before the Olympics are due to start this year, and sure enough, Beijing was hit by particularly intense thunderstorms and what we call strong convective activity," he said. "I can see there would be some interest in reducing that type of storm activity, because that could indeed have some impact on the running of the games. Professor Stone says there have been some scientific advances in using silver iodide, salt and other particles to enhance rainfall. "That work has at long last started to appear in the international scientific journals," he said. "But to be honest, I'm not aware of the scientific validity of turning it the other way around, although I could see there may be processes that could be put in place to reduce precipitation in some circumstances. "But by jingo, you'd have to get the exact and precise circumstances in place for this to be effective."
War on weather
As the meteorologists work on manipulating the weather later this year, officials across the country are struggling to cope now with the worst winter the country has seen in decades. Heavy snowfalls and freezing conditions have left hundreds of thousands of people without power.
The outages have led to the cancellation of trains, just as millions of migrant workers try to head home for the Lunar New Year holiday season.
Hundreds of thousands of travellers have been stranded ahead of the peak holiday season. One worker said he had been stranded for 10 days. "I've already been standing here for ten days. In these ten days I've drunk boiled water everyday," he said. "I've drunk iced water. You see, I'm as thin as a monkey." The chaos saw Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao travel to the southern city of Guangzhou to address the crowds at the train station with a megaphone. In a rare political event, he apologised for the inconvenience. "I have come to see how everyone is," he said. "You're all suffering. Everybody wants to go home. We totally understand how you're all feeling. "But I can tell everyone now that we are doing as much as we can to improve the situation. The number of roads open, the number of cars back on the roads are going up. "We're doing everything in our power to get everyone back home to their families as soon as possible." There are some signs that the situation is easing in some parts of China, but forecasters are predicting several more days of severe weather. And with frustration growing among those stranded, the official Xinhua news agency has spoken of the need to wage "all out war" on the weather chaos.
Bron: ABC News | Gewijzigd: 13 februari 2017, 11:56 uur, door Joyce.s
Every cloud has a silver lining
China controleert het weer tijdens Spelen
China is van plan om het weer te beheersen tijdens de Olympische Spelen later dit jaar. Met vliegtuigjes, een radar en een supercomputer zal het weer in de gaten worden gehouden om een oppervlakte van 27.000 km2 rond het Olympisch stadium droog te houden.
Chemicaliën
Van zodra er regenwolken in de buurt van het stadium komen, zullen deze worden 'aangevallen' door twee vliegtuigen en twintig artillerie- en raketinstallaties. Die vuren geen explosieven af, maar speciale munitie die droog ijs en zilverjodide bevat. De regen valt hierdoor al naar beneden nog voordat de wolken het stadium kunnen bereiken. En als er dan toch regenwolken doorheen deze aanval komen, dan worden er nog andere speciale chemicaliën op losgelaten die de regenval kunnen uitstellen, zodat de wolken gewoon kunnen overwaaien.
© De Morgen | Gewijzigd: 13 februari 2017, 11:56 uur, door Joyce.s
China is van plan om het weer te beheersen tijdens de Olympische Spelen later dit jaar. Met vliegtuigjes, een radar en een supercomputer zal het weer in de gaten worden gehouden om een oppervlakte van 27.000 km2 rond het Olympisch stadium droog te houden.
Chemicaliën
Van zodra er regenwolken in de buurt van het stadium komen, zullen deze worden 'aangevallen' door twee vliegtuigen en twintig artillerie- en raketinstallaties. Die vuren geen explosieven af, maar speciale munitie die droog ijs en zilverjodide bevat. De regen valt hierdoor al naar beneden nog voordat de wolken het stadium kunnen bereiken. En als er dan toch regenwolken doorheen deze aanval komen, dan worden er nog andere speciale chemicaliën op losgelaten die de regenval kunnen uitstellen, zodat de wolken gewoon kunnen overwaaien.
© De Morgen | Gewijzigd: 13 februari 2017, 11:56 uur, door Joyce.s
China gaat weergod spelen
China wil zeker zijn van een droge openingsceremonie van de Olympische Spelen in Peking. Daarom worden vanaf de heuvels ver buiten Peking chemicaliën de lucht in geschoten. Die moeten de wolken laten 'leegregenen' of ze in de buurt van de festiviteiten komen.
China heeft volgens de voorspellingen nu 47 procent kans op regen. Om dat te voorkomen is voor het sportevenement een afdeling 'weermanipulatie' opgezet, die de regen op afstand moet houden. Zodra er regen dreigt, zullen er twee vliegtuigen en raketten vanaf de grond projectielen met droogijs en zilverjodide de lucht in schieten. Die moeten de regen in de wolken 'versneld losmaken''.
Zhang Qiang, het hoofd van die dienst, benadrukt tegenover China Daily dat de chemicaliën geen kwaad kunnen.
Hoogleraar Maarten Krol, verbonden aan de Leerstoelgroep Meteorologie en Luchtkwaliteit van de Wageningen Universiteit, is in het AD sceptisch over het Chinese regenplan. "De kans op succes is niet heel groot, want buien laten zich niet zo gemakkelijk naar de hand zetten."
©De Pers
China wil zeker zijn van een droge openingsceremonie van de Olympische Spelen in Peking. Daarom worden vanaf de heuvels ver buiten Peking chemicaliën de lucht in geschoten. Die moeten de wolken laten 'leegregenen' of ze in de buurt van de festiviteiten komen.
China heeft volgens de voorspellingen nu 47 procent kans op regen. Om dat te voorkomen is voor het sportevenement een afdeling 'weermanipulatie' opgezet, die de regen op afstand moet houden. Zodra er regen dreigt, zullen er twee vliegtuigen en raketten vanaf de grond projectielen met droogijs en zilverjodide de lucht in schieten. Die moeten de regen in de wolken 'versneld losmaken''.
Zhang Qiang, het hoofd van die dienst, benadrukt tegenover China Daily dat de chemicaliën geen kwaad kunnen.
Hoogleraar Maarten Krol, verbonden aan de Leerstoelgroep Meteorologie en Luchtkwaliteit van de Wageningen Universiteit, is in het AD sceptisch over het Chinese regenplan. "De kans op succes is niet heel groot, want buien laten zich niet zo gemakkelijk naar de hand zetten."
©De Pers
