China recently used cloud seeding to control rain and pollution ahead of a major political event, according to a Beijing university study.
According to a report published by South China Morning Post, the scientists at the Tsinghua University said that the government launched the large-scale operation – lacing clouds with chemicals to bring on rainfall – over suburban Beijing and some neighbouring areas hours before the Communist Party marked its centenary on July 1.
According to the research paper, the artifitial rain that was induced reduced the level of air pollutant PM2.5 by more than two-thirds, therefore improving air quality from moderate to good – falling in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.
The team from the university, led by Wang Can, an environmental science professor, said it was unlikely this drop in air pollution was natural since “artificial rain was the only disruptive event in this period”. Their research was published in Environmental Science, a peer-reviewed Chinese journal, on November 26.
