Rain to the rescue!  The Beijing olympics air pollution levels are down…

As of today’s air pollution index, the level is down to 38.  It had been hoovering up around 80 to 100.

According to forecasters, the cooler, wet weather will continue.  Whew…what a breathing relief.

Here’s the question.  Has the sky gotten a little technological help to produce this rain?

When the olympics were slated to open in August, there was concern that there could be rain on the opening ceremonies parade.  No problem.  Just move the rain for those days to a different time and place.

It’s called cloud seeding, and apparently, it’s done fairly commonly in China to create rain.  Silver iodide shells, or dry ice, are shot into clouds.  That causes water to rapidly condense and produce rain.  You can try to avoid rain this way by simply trying to force rain from clouds before they get to the destination you are trying to keep dry.

So, the question is…did China successfully manipulate the weather to produce a dry opening ceremony but then end up with more smog?  Then, did they decide to produce some rain after the games were underway in order to cool things down and clear the air?   I mean, after all, the Olympic torch is called the “Cloud of Promise”.  Hmmm.

In any case, the air quality is better and we think that the athletes (and everyone else in Beijing right now) are happy to be breathing easier so they can do their best, all of the politics and other issues aside.

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