The Beijing Times reports that Beijing will use aircraft, missiles and cannon in what could amount to a huge umbrella over the city to keep the athletes dry during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
The Beijing Games are being held during the rainy season but the weather bureau reportedly plans to use advanced techniques to force rain clouds to open as far away as 90 km from the city.
Zhang Qiang, head of Beijing’s artificial weather management office, told the newspaper that five aircraft and several batteries of cannon and rockets will be used during the Games. The system is to be tested this year to ensure it can work next August during the Games when rain is expected to fall once every three days, he said.
No details were released on exactly how the plan will work but China says it has a successful record of influencing the weather by artificial means. According to AFP earlier this year official media reported that snowfalls had been artificially generated by cloud seeding in the north of the country.
