I compiled the following from several news reports (CBC, BBC) on the subject.
Chinese meteorolgists have been messing about with the weather in an attempt to even out the precipitation levels. The country’s north is prone to droughts, while the south is often flooded.
In an attempt to alleviate this the government is building a huge network of tunnels and waterways that will funnel water from the south to the north, but the project is still five years from completion.
Meanwhile according to Beijing Evening News, the Weather Modification Office seeded rain clouds by spraying them 186 times with silver iodide to ease a drought that was threatening the wheat crop.
The unexpected arrival of a cold front caused the heaviest snowfall in at least 54 years. In Beijing tens of thousands of people were stranded on highways linking the city with Shanxi, Hebei, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia. Tragically, the snow also caused a primary school cafeteria's roof to collapse in Hebei, killing three children and injuring 28 others.
One report indicates that the use of salt on the roads has resulted in the death of about ten thousand trees.
When are we going to understand that when we twang the tightrope Mother loses her balance?
2 comments:
Ah, we will probably never understand, my friend. We do what we think is best for each individual situation and sometimes our best is far from being good enough. The thing is, Mother Nature is much more resilient than we give her credit for. Ten thousands trees destroyed because of salt on the road? Sounds a bit like a made up figure to moi . . .
I hope you are right Jerry. I hope you are right.
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