Storm clouds continue to cast shadows over China’s Sky River rain-making project
- Head of research team invites scientists to his laboratory to see for themselves how scheme will work
- Opponents describe plan to produce more rain to feed Yellow River as waste of taxpayers’ money
The debate over China’s plan to develop a weather modification system to direct more rain to the Yellow River at its origin on the Tibetan Plateau and so feed the nation’s arid northern regions continues to rage in scientific circles, with the head of the project inviting researchers to visit his laboratory to discuss it.
Wang Guangqian, the president of Qinghai University and chief scientist on the Sky River project, made the comment in response to a slew of criticism from those who have described it as a “waste of taxpayers’ money”.
“Qinghai is not that far away,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with state news website China.com.cn. “We welcome those who have questions about our work to visit my lab here.”
Qinghai is a province in western China that neighbours Tibet and shares the plateau.
The project aims to use intensive cloud seeding in the skies above the plateau to create more than 5 billion cubic metres of rainwater a year that would ultimately flow into the Yellow River, according to a feasibility study funded by the Qinghai government.
