Oops! The unintended consequences of weather modification.

The region around Beijing, China's capital, has been in the grip of a very severe drought for some time. In an attempt to relieve it, the authorities have undertaken a program of cloud-seeding, trying to force rainfall.

According to Reuters, that seems to have produced some unintended consequences.

China closed 12 highways around the capital Beijing on Thursday because of heavy snow brought on after seeding clouds with chemicals, state media said on Thursday.

All outbound highways were closed in Hebei, the drought-hit northern province surrounding Beijing, after heavy snow fell on Wednesday night, Xinhua news agency said.

In all, 12 highways, including one linking Beijing and Shenyang, capital of northeastern Liaoning province, were closed.

Hebei got its first heavy snow of this year on Wednesday. The provincial weather bureau said that snow too was "enhanced" by artificial seeding.

"The snow has brought moisture to the soil, which may help end the drought," Guo Yingchun, a senior engineer of the provincial meteorological observatory, was quoted as saying.

She said that 313 cigarette-size sticks of silver iodide were fired into the clouds from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, "a procedure that made the snow a lot heavier."

I wonder if Chinese law allows Beijing's Roads Department to sue the Weather Department for the costs, traffic snarl-ups and other consequences of their cloud-seeding?



Peter