China: Made-in-China Snow · Global Voices
This past Sunday on Nov. 1, Beijing saw its earliest snowfall in 22 years. The sudden change in weather, which blanketed the entire city in snow, surprised many residents. But the news media later reported that the snowfall had actually been enhanced by the city’s weather modification office.
The reasoning behind the forced precipitation was because Beijing had been experiencing a drought. The night before the snow, the government had fired silver iodide into the skies. The resulting effect increased the amount of snow by 16 million tons.
“We won’t miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought,” said <PERSON>, the head of the weather modification office, to the state media.
China has a history of artificially inducing rain, usually in cases to stop drought. At other times, the weather modification office has reduced the rain to ensure clear skies, such as during the National Day parade in October or the Beijing Olympic Games.
Netizens have been divided in their opinions about this past weekend’s man-made snow. Some wrote gleefully about its beauty, like blogger, 鱼干儿.
北京的天气，总是这么让人匪夷所思。毫无预兆的就下了场雪，而且还一发不可收拾。听说是人工催下来的，管他呢，我们就爱这样的天气。
Beijing’s weather is unimaginably fantastic. 49
Without warning, it began to snow. And it was the kind of snow that couldn’t be easily cleaned up and managed. I heard that the snow was man-made. But I don’t care. We love this kind of weather.
Some, however, have been more annoyed. Wrote 小米：
回来才听说这是场人工降雪，是谁这么主观的断定这是下雪的好时机呢？？到处都是措手不及的冷，电力、交通、供暖等都遇到很棘手的问题。
After I heard that it was man made, I had to wonder who was the person who thought this was a good time for it to snow? Everywhere people have been caught off guard by the cold and the other thorny problems related to power, traffic and heating.
On an Internet forum, one user complained that the government should have warned people ahead of time, adding that many of the flights at the airport were delayed.
要我说，这种人定胜天的精神是好的，虽然北 京人都“被冬天”了，如果真能解除北方旱情也算是功德一桩。就是没通知大家的气象局太不地道。
In my view, this type of ‘man can conquer nature’ spirit is good, even though Beijing residents were “winterized.” If they can really solve the damage wrought by the drought then this has its merits. But the way the weather bureau didn’t inform anyone ahead of time isn’t quite right.
A few posts made on the Internet have also expressed worry over what kind of effects the unnatural snow might have on the environment. One blogger, 天边的云, wondered if anyone has the right to alter the weather. 368