Smog.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
China's top economic body and weather service announced plans to build weather modification labs in Beijing to combat smog in the country, state-run news agency China News Service reported Tuesday.
The Development Planning on Weather Modification (2014-2020), jointly issued by the The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), laid down proposals for laboratories for researching weather modification, particularly in generating artificial rain to dispel smog.
"China will establish more comprehensive weather modification working system [sic] . . . achieve important results of basic research and application technology, improve support capacities and security control level, and increase service benefits for eco-social development," the CMA wrote on its website.
"[The Development Planning] is a great action for promoting the scientific development of weather modification."
However, the report noted that it is currently unknown how much rain is needed, since previous research focused on artificial rain for easing drought conditions and increasing water resources.
It also forecasts that by 2020, the country will have developed advanced weather modification systems that can increase both artificial and snowfall with as much as 60 billion cubic meters of water per year.
China's policymakers have been taking stronger measures to address air pollution in the country, particularly in urban and industrial areas. In November the previous year, Beijing ordered the shutdown of steel mills and other heavy industry near the capital.
Premier Li Keqiang also noted during his opening address at the National People's Congress in March that the government will "declare war against pollution and fight it with the same determination we battled poverty."
"Smog is affecting larger parts of China, and environmental pollution has become a major problem," Li added, "which is nature's red-light warning against the model of inefficient and blind development."
