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China to Increase Precipitation for Dry Northwest China: Official
China plans to use artificial rainfall method to increase precipitation for its vast but dry northwest China in the heartland of Eurasia, the country's top meteorological official said Wednesday in Beijing.
Wen Kegang, director of the China Meteorological Administration, said artificial rainfall centers will be set up in the Hetao area between the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Tianshan Mountain area in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and the Hexi Corridor area in Gansu Province.
He said that a national unified command and coordination system will also be set up for the operation of the centers.
During the past two years, Qinghai increased the rainfall by five billion cubic meters using artificial method at a total cost of 1.45 million US dollars, he said.
With a population of 90 million, the inland northwest China covers 3.04 million ha, about 30 percent of the total landmass in China, while its water resources accounts for only 10 percent of the total figure for China due to limited rainfall.
The annual average rainfall for the region is less than 500 mm while the annual average rainfall for the Loess Plateau ranges from 300 mm to 500 mm.
For the Gansu Corridor, an area of 1,000 km in length and up to 100 km in width and an important agricultural area, the annual rainfall is less 100 mm, and the rainfall for Turpan, an oasis in north Xinjiang, is less than 20 mm.
Despite the region's abundance in land, sunlight and heat resources, a lack of water has been the major obstacle to the economic and social development in the region.
To tap the rich land resources in northwest China, priority must be given to the issue of water shortage, the director said.
Wen said a lack of proper rainfall conditions is blamed for the long-standing drought in the region while most of the drifting vapor over the region is swept out of the region without generating rain.
He said potentially lots of rainfall could be yielded using artificial rainfall methods.
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