While industries do bring revenues and prosperity, they are also a major cause for pollution. In fact, most of the advancement in machinery has led to an increase in pollution uptill now. When we have realized what we’ve done, we have been busy in taking measures to solve the problem which we created. Among countries which are known for pollution and dense smog, China is a prominent country. There have been a number of incidents where planes have been grounded at famous airports and schools closed due to dense smog.
China has managed to create so much smog that it has even affected other neighboring countries as well. As of now, Japan and many other Asian countries are being affected by it. A number of steps are being taken to counter this problem. China needs an immediate solution to the problem and this needs to be done fast. Among many methods which are being considered, there is one which is known as ‘artificial rain’. China Meteorological Administration has pinned their hopes to this project with which they hope to tackle the problem of smog.
The key idea is to plant seeds in clouds by employing rockets which would carry silver iodide to the clouds. This will help the clouds form ice crystals that will melt, based on temperature, and fall in the form of rain to the ground while washing the smog out of the air. The same method was employed during the Olympics back in 2008 but with a slight difference; they were trying to prevent rain from happening back then.
Seems like a good idea but let’s look at it from a scientist’s point of view. The question; ‘will this work?’ is a very reasonable question and Steven Siems from Monash University in Australia feels that it won’t. He says that the smog already contains silver iodide and simply adding more to the cloud won’t make it rain. Not to forget that silver iodide is toxic and therefore, we have some ethical issues to deal with as well.
We would rather suggest that China comes up with more efficient and sure shot ways for fighting smog. We recently covered an article on a giant vacuum cleaner which can help solve this problem. Alternatively, they can hold competitions where young minds can do a little brainstorming and come up with methods to solve this issue for China.