China's new climate control program is a monster

By Matthew Griffin Earth and Energy 18th February 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

A large part of China is arid, with serious implications on the people’s livelihoods and health, the new climate control program will improve their living conditions.

China, the world’s second largest economy, announced on Wednesday that it’s going to spend $168 million on a climate control program that will hopefully make it rain in the country’s arid north west.

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No stranger to using technologies like cloud seeding to influence and even control weather patterns, China’s top economic planners gave the go ahead for what will be the world’s largest weather control programs after a feasibility study conducted last year concluded that the three year program could generate a significant increase in the amount of rainfall over an area of 960,000 sq km, or as much as 10% of China.

The budget for the project, which was allocated by the National Development and Reform Commission will cover the cost for four new aircraft and updates to eight existing planes, nearly 900 rocket launch systems and over 1,800 digital control devices.

China has been deploying cloud seeding technology at an unprecedented rate for the past few years now so the new project, while huge, isn’t necessarily a surprise, and in the past the government have induced rainfall by peppering clouds with catalysts like silver iodide or dry ice to relieve droughts.

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The country, like many others, is also known to manipulate precipitation for other purposes, like clearing the skies for public events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, countering boiling summer heat and attempting to wash away the choking smog that annually envelops major cities.

This latest weather investment though will target the swathe of western China between Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, a stretch of the country known for dry climate and general water shortages. Meanwhile an official from Qinghai, another province that will benefit from the program, said that between 2006 and 2016 artificial rain induction program, as they’re calling it, has increased the amount of rainfall by 55 billion cubic meters.

So let it rain, let it rain.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.