It only takes one rained-out Little League game to make a sports lover resent Mother Nature. Now some of today’s scientists and other bigwigs have taken it upon themselves to say: “no more.” Not content to stand idly by and let something as mundane as climate dictate the success of our sports games, they have instead turned to geoengineering - intentional manipulation of the Earth's environment - to fight back.
Qatari engineers recently announced a project to develop solar-powered artificial clouds to shade the 2022 World Cup from the country’s unforgiving summer sun. One remotely steerable cloud comes with a hefty price tag - $500,000 - just to cool the field by 10 degrees.
This isn't the first time humans have battled weather for the sake of a sporting event. Click through the gallery below to read more about Qatar’s clouds, Chinese rain-battling techniques and other ways geoengineering has been deployed for the love of the game.
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


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And still no one listens to my rants regarding the current state of geoengineering and cloud seeding. They think I'm crazy. I wish the government would disclose a bit more info on their secretive weather manipulation projects, then I wouldn't come across as a wack job when discussing the topic with friends.
Wow "aware_one", this is just a big sunshade, not manipulation of actual weather. Good luck with that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCKhFfQTf8
pretty sure he's talking about the cloud seeding article in Russia for the 2014 winter games dealhunter, why don't you quit spamming and read the damn articles douche!
Until humanity fully & TRULY understands & comprehends the consequences of nature manipulation, We should leave well enough alone, especially when it’s just for sports.
Sports and sporting events are BIG money ventures. So as with all big money projects, they will look only at what they can do to plump their profits TODAY, and ignore the possibility that there won't be a tomorrow if they do whatever it is they are planning.
I think that there are two things to take away from this article. First, it would seem that we are talking about a remotely operated "cloud", which amounts to nothing more than a moveable sunshield. It is a mechanical device that is controlled remotely and, in principle, not really different than the moveable roofs that are already employed at some stadiums and sports centers. It is not weather manipulation.
The other thing I think that can be derived actually comes from the tone of some of the comments. I have observed it here and in so many other forums where one commenter feels that it is necessary to attack another for various reasons; not agreeing with their viewpoint, ridicule for not understanding all of the content, etc. This is the human nature of the 21st century. Many thrive on diminishing others to gain a false sense of superiority.
I would propose that we consider the alternative. We are all on the same planet and part of the same human race. To an outside observer, we act and react in a manner that we should be ashamed of. Instead of working together in order to represent a unified front, and to achieve our collective best, most of us seek personal fame or gain.
Where would some of the greatest achievements of the past be if everyone who participated in achieving them took every opportunity to diminish others because of weaknesses? Instead, great feats such as the pyramids, Statue of Liberty, a man on the moon, etc. were achieved through a collaborative environment where everyone supported the goals of the collective and offset the weaknesses of others by benevolently educating them, so that they could become a stronger member of the collective.
Imagine an ant hill where every ant in the colony worked against each other because they had to prove that they were the best individual, not the best colony.
We need to mature, as a race, species, whatever, if we are to persevere. This can only come from developing compassion and understanding for all, teaching and helping each other to attain our personal best in support of the entire human race.
jordans2011,
not really sure what a sporting goods web site has to do with what we are talking about here.
Geoengineering is not some kind of metal roof. It is made up of chemicals. What bothers me is what is in these chemicals and are they harmful to us and the environment?
If they are going to use these clouds at all then why don't they use them over countries like Africa where they are starving due to lack of rain?? Least then the clouds will do some good and save thousands of ppl and they can live normal lives and grow crops without the land ever being dusty again. lol it makes me laugh but sad too that scientists are making clouds just for sport. Suprised they're not doing it for the Olympics 2012 here in UK.
Watch the chemtrails in our skies!! The ones that don't disappear are the ones to worry about because they contain god knows what chemicals.
When will man ever learn, we cannot and should not try and control Mother nature. I think Mother nature will win in the end.