The weather god across the border

India and China demonstrated extraordinary cooperation at the recently concluded Bali...

India and China demonstrated extraordinary cooperation at the recently concluded Bali conference on climate change. Both the countries forcefully represented the views of developing world and their unity played a role in fashioning ‘the Bali road map’.

But there was one issue that was overlooked at the talk session — the covert attempts of a few states to intentionally ‘modify’ weather patterns for military/economic purposes. Surprisingly, this ‘climatic warfare’, which has the potential to threaten the future of humanity, has also been excluded from IPCC reports. The Americans had used such techniques to modify the weather for military purposes in Vietnam. They had carried out cloud seeding experiments, beginning in 1967 under ‘Project Popeye’, with the objective of prolonging the monsoon season and blocking enemy supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. By doing this, they were successful in creating flash floods in Vietnam which, according to some estimates, gave them dividends worth three years of sustained bombing. A few years ago, China carried out experiments for precipitation enhancement and hail suppression. As per official Chinese publications, 20 specialised aeroplanes, 6,800 artilleries and 3,300 rocket launchers were used for such operations. Over the years Chinese investment in this area has increased manifold.

Currently, full-fledged weather modification units are found in more than 30 provinces/ municipalities of China, with more than 32,000 people involved in these experiments. They have phenomenal hardware support with some 7,100 anti-aircraft guns, 4,991 special rocket launchers, and 30-odd aircraft. Chinese are investing about $90 million for this; and going by their own claims, they have the world’s largest artificial weather modification programme. The Chinese have even claimed that they will make sure the weather will not interfere with the smooth staging of the 2008 Olympics! This shows their confidence in ‘managing’ the weather.

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Chinese intentions are not very clear. They may even be investing in this technology overtly for drought relief measures and covertly to create ‘weather weapons’. Such weapons have the potential of changing the direction of cyclonic storms, creating forest fires and flash floods in enemy territory. It is not only China but the US that is making significant investments in this field. The US military has developed advanced capabilities to selectively alter weather patterns. This is being done under the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Programme, an appendage of their Strategic Defense Initiative.

For India these experiments with the weather is a cause of concern, since it shares a long border with China. Flash floods in Himachal Pradesh have been caused by lake bursts in Tibet.

The writer is a research fellow at IDSA

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