August 8

Well, give Beijing one thing: they managed a blue sky day for August 8.

I really don't think we can give credit to Chinese calendar's assertion that
yesterday must have been a clear, warm day because it was the first day of autumn, though.

Yesterday, citizens of Beijing definitely saw blue sky. But while we were out there staring out the blue sky, we were sweating our eyeballs out: it was 93 degrees and humidity once again reached 100%. According to weather.com, the humidity went as low as 56%, almost refreshing, although I was inside at that time and can't confirm.

As for pollution, this could not possibly be a coincidence: the pollution index for Beijing yesterday was 88.

So how did the weather turn so blue and half-bearably dry? I am sure the rain storm the day before had something to do with clearing the air. Did the heavens cooperate to bring honor on the descendants of the dragon as they prepare for the historic 2008 Olympics? Perhaps, but the heavens surely had help from a little seeding of the clouds.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, don't mind that peasant farmer over there manning the anti-aircraft gun. Those shells he's shooting into the clouds will make it rain. Like all other Olympics preparation systems, the rain-making (in more ways than one!) system was tested for the one-year countdown. Beijing officials have committed to preventing rain at Olympic venues during athletic events, and they also plan to rely on manufactured rain storms to clean the air.

There are a few minor flaws in this plan, however. One, noted yesterday, is that the effects of a seeded rainstorm don't last that long. This morning looks a little bluer than normal, but in general these storms clear the air for only a little more than a day. On top of that, the effect is not always dramatic as one would like. Sure, the sky was blue yesterday. But would you want to be an Olympic marathoner in 93 degree heat and over 70% humidity most of the day? Even without pollution, August in Beijing is just not an ideal setting for athletic competition.

Finally, cloud seeding is just one of many, many aspects of Olympic preparations where the effects on ordinary citizens don't seem to be taken into account. Last year, farmers complained when officials seeded clouds to make a convenient rainfall. Without interference, they pointed out, the rain would have eventually fallen on their fields, instead of falling prematurely on the city of Shanghai. Their crops suffered in favor of Shanghai's cleansing shower.