Climate Engineering

 

The Chinese government, through its Weather Modification Program, is working on a solution to stop and start the rain. The program, which employs 35,000 people across China, teaches farmers how to use of rocket launchers to send pellets into the sky that contain silver iodide. The iodide is thought to concentrate moisture in the clouds and cause rain. In Beijing it often rains on the eve of major domestic events, so that there are temporary blue skies on the day of. The process is known as cloud seeding and China is spending in upwards of $90 million a year in an effort to produce around 50 billion cubic meters of rainfall.