Adding 1 link to post no. 1336:
“Al-Qa’eda’s electronic ‘ammunition’”
By John Steele
Last Updated: 4:07am BST 26/04/2007
“Analysis”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=china
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=rain
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=weather
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1823743/posts
“China: Rain free Beijing opening guaranteed”
Reuters ^ | 04/25/07
Posted on 04/26/2007 12:11:43 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
“Rain free Beijing opening guaranteed”
By Nick Mulvenney
Wed Apr 25, 7:47 AM ET
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing’s meteorological bureau believes it can manipulate the weather to guarantee a dry opening ceremony at next year’s Olympic Games, an official said on Wednesday.
Rainfall is often made heavier by cloud seeding in the drought-stricken Chinese capital but scientists have also been testing “artificial mitigation of rainfall” and found it can be effective in small areas.
“We are talking about limited areas, the area around the National Stadium,” Zhang Qiang, head of the office of weather manipulation, told a news conference.
“We will provide a guarantee for the main Olympic stadium...we take various artificial measures so the rain falls before it arrives at the area.”
The opening ceremony will be open to the elements after a decision was made two years ago to cut costs by not building a roof on the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest.
Wang Yubin, the chief engineer at the bureau, said studies of the weather patterns over the last 30 years indicated there was a 50 percent chance of some rainfall on the day of the opening ceremony, August 8 2008.
“The rain might have a negative impact on the opening ceremony,” he said.
“We have already conducted tests of artificial mitigation of rains, we will take necessary preparations for rain mitigation for the opening and closing ceremonies.
“Our measures are quite effective in a limited area but over a large area we cannot reduce this rainfall to the minimum, to be frank.””