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Weather is manipulated again for snow

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-11-11 11:52

 

Beijing's unusually heavy snow, which brought a traffic paralysis to the capital yesterday, again highlighted the controversial use of weather modification.

The snow fell amid lightning and thunder in the capital late Monday to early yesterday, making it the second snowfall in eight days.

"The occurrence was rather unusual for early November," said Sun Jisong, chief forecaster of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau.

An official from the capital weather modification office who refused to be identified told China Daily yesterday that the second snow in Beijing was also artificially induced but refused to reveal further information.

On Oct 31, the first snow in the capital this winter was partly induced by 186 doses of silver iodide, a compound used in cloud seeding. More than 16 million tons of snow fell on the city, Zhang Qiang, director of the municipal weather modification office, said earlier.

Without advance notice, the weather manipulation led to another big mess yesterday in Beijing, with traffic and flight delays.

The snow brought traffic to a crawl in the morning rush hour. Municipal transport authorities used more than 6,000 tons of thawing agent to clear the roads to ease congestion.

The snow also caused a four-hour shutdown of the Beijing Capital International Airport, with nearly 200 flights cancelled.

Beijing's first artificially induced snow on Oct 31 also caused hundreds of flight delays and cancellations, triggering complaints from the public.

About the broadcaster:

Chantal Anderson is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site. Originally from Seattle, Washington she has found her way around the world doing photo essays in Greece, Mexico and Thailand. She is currently completing a double degree in Journalism and International Studies from the University of Washington.