In case you don’t know what I am talking about, on November 1st Bejing experienced their earliest snowfall in 22 years. What made this snowstorm historic was not the timing of the snow but how the snow was made. It wasn’t the result of El Nino, it was man made. No I am not talking about climate change, I am talking about weather modification.
Chinese scientist seeded clouds to cause a snowstorm to start the month. Officials say that this is to help ease a drought that has plagued parts of Northern China for decades. This move by Chinese officials apparently didn’t go over well. Snow caused flight delays, snarled traffic, canceled classes and other inconveniences to daily life. Timing of this storm was also very poor since most of Bejings buildings were not scheduled to have their heating units turned on until November 15th.
Well the debate continues because Bejing is getting hit with another snow storm this week. Official statement says this is a “Natural” storm but The China Daily, citing an unnamed official, said the Beijing Weather Modification Office had artificially induced both storms by seeding clouds with chemicals, a practice that can increase precipitation by up to 20 percent.
If you read my last post on the Moscow Mayor promising no snow this winter, then you know I am not a fan of weather modification. Weather is too unpredicatable as it is. Although you may get the results a mjority of the time but what happens when you don’t? Could there be long range problems or changes in weather patterns.
I love the weather, that’s why I do what I do. You know I understand that there are scenarios and situations that changing the weather or preventing a major natural disaster like a Katrina or a super outbreak of tornadoes would and could save hundreds if not thousands of lives. I guess the question is should we. Do we really need to try and change weather? I am not for weather modification, what do you think?
Stumble it!
2 responses so far ↓
1 We Meant to Do That… « Cloudy and Cool // Nov 12, 2009 at 10:24 am
[...] For more on the topic (less sarcastic), check out meteorologist Brian Neudorff’s recent post on WX-MAN’S Musings. [...]
2 Paul Yeager // Nov 12, 2009 at 10:35 am
Hi Brian,
I’m not a big fan of weather modification, either, and I also wonder how effective it is.
I understand that cloud seeding enhances precipitation pattern to some degree and can, therefore, alter precipitation patterns, but I’d like to see some concrete scientific information about this event to see how effective it was.
I saw your post yesterday and linked to it in a post I wrote today: http://cloudyandcool.com/2009/11/12/china-weather-modification-snow/
Paul
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