Fighting off the rain

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A volunteer mimics sa sculpture, holding an umbrella at the Olympic Green. Experts are trying to fend off possible rain on August 8. REUTERS

IN Beijing, satellites, rockets, shells and aircraft are at the ready. An army of engineers is standing by. They are prepared not to fight terrorists, but to outwit Mother Nature.

Beijing has mobilized all of its science and engineering resources to prevent rain from spoiling the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8.

The Beijing weather engineering office is leading the weather modification efforts. Its task is to prevent rain from falling between 8:08 pm to around 11:30 pm on the Bird’s Nest, the open-air National Stadium that will host the opening ceremony.

Historical data suggests a 41 percent chance of precipitation on that date.

A technology developed by American scientists, cloud-seeding involves shooting shells or rockets containing silver iodide particles into the clouds. The icy particles freeze droplets that eventually fall out of the sky.

Beijing has a two-fold plan for a blue-sky Olympics – to fend off clouds or to delay their movement. Both rely on cloud-seeding.

By seeding approaching rain clouds, scientists hope the rain will fall before the clouds reach Beijing. Alternately, scientists might use smaller seeds, but more of them. If the water droplets are dispersed, no single nucleus will attract enough to form a raindrop.

The weather engineering office is weaving a defensive web with adjacent provinces. Twenty-six control stations have been set up, employing 32,000 people.

Many experts agree that cloud-seeding is only effective on small or mid-sized clouds. Giant storm systems are simply too big, as they can cover up to 100 sq km.

Some meteorologists argue that the study of cloud formations and large-scale weather conditions is insufficient to modify the weather effectively. Others cite the negative impact of spreading silver iodide in the environment.

Yu Xinwen, a China Meteorological Administration spokesman, said on Monday that the “41 percent” is only a rough guess.

However, Yu said: “It’s possible to predict the weather one week in advance, and prediction accuracy will scale up leading to August 8.” He expected more precise predictions about two days before the Olympics begins.

Rain, rain, go away

EARLY August is often warm and humid and might not be an ideal time for the Olympics. Many feel the Beijing Olympic organizers deliberately chose the auspicious eighth day of the eighth month. However, organizers say this was not so.

They were told by meteorologists that the first week in August is usually the wettest period each year in Beijing. Organizers reportedly proposed starting the Games in September, the best time of the year in the city. But that month would have clashed with several international sporting events, including tennis’ US Open and the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships.

Beijing also proposed August 15, but the final decision of August 8 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) left Beijing with only one choice – to prevent rain, at least in the area of the Bird’s Nest.

Because the main stadium has no roof, the government must try to ensure good weather. According to Olympic opening ceremony tradition, if rainfall is too heavy, athletes do not parade around the stadium and some art performances are canceled. 
 

生词：
auspicious 吉兆的, 幸运的
cloud-seeding 人工降雨
deluge 洪水, 豪雨
humid 湿润的
meteorologist 气象学者
mobilize 动员
modification 更改, 修改
nucleus 核子
particle 微粒
precipitation 降水
shell 炮弹
silver iodide 碘化银

Bonus
Expressions
take a rain check
改天吧，合适的时机一定完成I can’t make it to dinner tonight, can I take a rain check?
我今晚不能赴宴，改天好吗？
it never rains but it pours
比喻祸不单行
First his girlfriend left him. Then somebody stole his car. It never rains but it pours.
先是女朋友离开了他，后来连车也被偷了；祸不单行啊。
save for a rainy day
未雨绸缪
She has a couple of thousand pounds kept aside which she’s saving for a rainy day.
她拿出两千多英镑放在一旁，未雨绸缪，以备不时之需。

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