Before reading this article, I sincerely invite you to click the "Follow" button, so that you can continue to push such articles in the future, and it is also convenient for you to discuss and share, your support is the driving force for us to insist on creating~
In September 2016, a grand event was held in Xining, Qinghai Province. The scientific event attracts experts in a variety of fields, including hydraulics, geography and even aerospace. Everyone gathered in Xining, Qinghai Province just to discuss the same topic – the Tianhe Project.
It is well known that the distribution of water resources on the mainland is extremely uneven. Compared with the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Tianhe project lacks public attention and exposure, but it is no less a remarkable feat.
Because this project, called "Tianhe", will cost 250 billion yuan to complete the goal of "diverting water from the sky". If this project can really be realized as scheduled, China's scientific and technological workers will inevitably create another achievement that will attract the attention of the world.
However, since the day the "Tianhe Project" was born, many scholars at home and abroad have carried out all-round demonstration and exploration of its feasibility, and many people have also raised doubts about the project itself.
So, what is the "Tianhe Project" that has shocked the people of the world? Does it have the conditions and space to achieve it?
All of this starts with the current situation of China's water resource allocation.
Uneven distribution of water resources
As we all know, it took thousands of years of hard work and labor of our ancestors to create today's agricultural irrigation areas around the two sets of water systems of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.
However, with several large-scale climate changes in history, the water coefficient of the Yellow River in the north has been diverted or even cut off, and people in the Yellow River basin are often affected by droughts and floods.
Later, the pattern of water resources distribution on the mainland formed a situation of "more in the south and less in the north, more in the east and less in the west".
At the beginning of the 21st century, after the arguments and investigations of countless experts, the state decided to start the famous "South-to-North Water Diversion" project. According to the established plan, the project will be divided into three sets of projects: the eastern, the central and western routes.
If the South-to-North Water Diversion Project can be fully completed in the future, the water resources diverted from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will directly improve the water use situation in Shandong, Beijing, Gansu, Shaanxi and other places. This project not only represents the determination of the Chinese people to transform nature, but also shows our yearning for a better life in the future.
According to expert estimates, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will directly benefit 438 million people. However, the cost of money and manpower for this project is by no means comparable to that of ordinary projects.
Therefore, although the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has been carried out for more than 20 years, the whole project has not yet been completely completed. Every year, the central government needs to invest heavily in the South-to-North Water Transfer Project to ensure the smooth implementation of this plan.
Of course, there are always doubts about the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.
In particular, in the western route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, it is necessary to send water resources from the south to the Loess Plateau at a higher altitude, which is simply an impossible task in the eyes of ordinary geographical researchers.
However, with the experience of the successful development of the Eastern Route Project and the Central Route Project, most people are full of confidence in the Western Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. At the same time, everyone began to think of more ambitious and ambitious goals.
Because the Chinese people have always been unwilling to be satisfied with what has been achieved or will be achieved. And so an amazing engineering plan was born.
Amazing "Tianhe Project"
As early as 2015, several experts and scholars from well-known universities in China put forward the basic concept of the "Tianhe Project". Subsequently, their views caused a storm of public opinion in the domestic academic circles.
In August 2015, experts from Tsinghua University, Qinghai University and the Qinghai Meteorological Bureau conducted an artificial rainfall enhancement experiment in the Sanjiangyuan region of Qinghai. The experiment is considered by many to be the first attempt by Chinese scientists on the Tianhe Project.
Regarding the path and ultimate goal of the Tianhe Project, Academician Wang Guangqian, President of Qinghai University, who participated in the experiment, quickly gave his own explanation:
"Weather modification technology is used to intercept or induce a part of the precipitation that naturally falls into the Yangtze River basin to the Yellow River basin to achieve air water transfer. ”
It turned out that the progress of the project was slow due to the fact that the mainland had been repeatedly affected by topography and landform in the process of carrying out the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.
This time, Chinese scientists simply think outside the box and try to solve the problems in the ground water transfer project in a fanciful way.
In order to discuss the feasibility of the Tianhe project, Academician Wang Guangqian once published an article entitled "Sky River: Discovery, Concept and Scientific Issues". Academician Wang Guangqian believes that there is a stable "water pipeline" in the atmosphere.
The source of the three rivers is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau on the mainland, and the two major river systems on the mainland, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, are both sourced here. Therefore, as long as people improve the atmospheric cloud cover in the source area of the three rivers, the goal of transferring water from the air can be achieved, which is what scientists call the "Tianhe".
According to the plan, after the Tianhe project is carried out as scheduled, the project will transfer about 5 billion cubic meters of water to several areas, including Sanjiangyuan, Qaidam and Qilian Mountains. The total amount of these water resources is equivalent to 350 West Lakes in Hangzhou.
From September 9 to 11, 2016, top experts from various fields across the country gathered in Xining, Qinghai. Everyone gathered here for one purpose – to demonstrate the feasibility of the Tianhe plan.
Since the Tianhe plan involved many industrial sectors and fields on the mainland, the debate meeting was held for three full days. After the meeting, people still chose to believe that Academician Wang Guangqian, who proposed the Tianhe plan.
In November 2018, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency received news from the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation: the mainland has officially launched a satellite and arrow research program related to the Tianhe project, and in the future, a network composed of Tianhe series satellites will be used to observe the atmospheric environment in the Sanjiangyuan region.
According to Zhu Wei, chief designer of the Tianhe series of satellites, in the future, the Tianhe series of satellites can effectively monitor multiple parameters such as humidity, surface environment, and precipitation in the Sanjiangyuan area through microwave observation.
This indicates that the mainland has begun to formally move towards the overall goal set by the Tianhe Project, but scientific exploration and development have never been achieved overnight, and it is not easy for people to completely realize the goal of the Tianhe Project.
After the start of related research projects, the Tianhe project has been questioned and concerned by many scientists at home and abroad. Even many foreign media outlets have begun to follow up and report on the "Tianhe Project".
Navigating the controversy
In fact, since Academician Wang Guangqian formally proposed the Tianhe project, many people in the industry have raised objections to him and his idea.
According to a report by Science Network, citing a number of meteorological experts, it is not that no one has proposed a plan similar to the Tianhe project before, but the manpower and material resources required by the relevant plan are not imaginable by ordinary people.
Even according to the most conservative estimates, the Tianhe project would cost at least more than 250 billion yuan. In the face of such a huge capital consumption, people have to consider the proportion of investment and return on the Tianhe project.
Professor Lu Hancheng of the National University of Defense Technology pointed out even more bluntly: "This is an absurd fantasy project that has neither scientific basis nor technical feasibility, and it is inconceivable that it has been supported by the project." The blood and sweat of the people should be cherished!"
Wu Guoxiong, a Chinese expert on atmospheric dynamics, believes that scientific controversy is a very normal thing, and many scientific achievements are impossible to become a reality in the eyes of people at first.
Just like when the mainland proposed to implement the south-to-north water diversion plan, a group of experts and scholars also stood up and used their knowledge of geography and meteorology to refute the planning of this project.
For example, today's river project has also pushed a seemingly fanciful plan into people's vision, which is not a good thing.
However, Wu Guoxiong also pointed out that although the idea of the Tianhe project is worthy of recognition, people must be more cautious in the process of implementing the Tianhe project in the future, because every penny of taxpayers' money must be spent in practice.
As early as after the demonstration meeting on the Tianhe project, many foreign media also paid attention to this idea of Chinese scientists.
Some media pointed out that it is completely understandable for Chinese scientists to propose the Tianhe project. This is because many rivers in China are already facing dryness.
The stark reality is a constant reminder of the need for change in the current uneven distribution of water resources within its borders.
Andrei Kiseriliao, chief researcher at Russia's Voyeikov General Geophysical Meteorological Observatory, also gave a positive evaluation of the bold ideas put forward by Chinese scientists in an interview.
Andrei believes that although human attempts to change the atmospheric environment have so far ended in failure, this does not mean that Chinese scientists will face failure in this project. Because the rigor and meticulousness of Chinese scientists have always been praised by scientists all over the world.
Some media outlets have linked the Tianhe project proposed by Chinese scientists to a so-called "meteorological weapon". Because in the former Soviet Union, some scientists tried to achieve military goals by means of influencing the climate.
Therefore, when Chinese scientists put forward the idea of using the atmosphere to divert water, many Western scholars suddenly thought of the past.
Igor Osterezov, who was responsible for the development of meteorological weapons during the Soviet era, openly told the truth: "China's rainwater projects will not become the basis for the creation of meteorological weapons." It is not uncommon for Moscow to drive the clouds on all festivals. Rain promotion is related to wind direction, wind force and humidity. ”
As a matter of fact, China has always adhered to the principle of peaceful development in its scientific and technological development. We will never attempt to turn our technological superiority into a military advantage that threatens others, as some countries do. The speculation of some media is clearly trying to justify others.
According to media reports, the Qinghai Provincial Meteorological Bureau currently allocates a special amount of money every year to support the research of the Tianhe project, which ensures that the scientists involved in the project can slowly explore the progress under the given conditions.
Regardless of whether the ultimate goal of the Tianhe Project can become a reality in the future, people will inevitably experience many ups and downs in the process of achieving this goal.
In the history of mankind, there have been countless seemingly incredible achievements. It is precisely because of the many scientific madmen who dare to turn fantasy into reality that we can have today's industrialized and modern life.
From a certain point of view, the scientific experiment that turns fantasy into reality is also a major driving force for the leapfrog progress and development of human society. And the controversies and setbacks experienced by these experiments will inevitably lead to their continuous improvement and development.
New China has long proved with decades of history that the Chinese people are fully capable and bold in achieving goals that are impossible in the eyes of others. Today's China has long found a balance between pioneering and respecting nature.
Many of the scientific ideas we put forward today may not become a reality in the short term, but they can at least paint a bigger picture for future generations and inspire people to continue to climb the heights of science and technology.
Bibliography:
The Tianhe project has sparked controversy in the scientific community, and people related to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project: I have never heard of this project China Economic Weekly