Japan wants to control the weather to protect itself from natural disasters

The weather in Japan will soon be man-made. (Image: Adobe Stock – Design Cells)

Japan has long been used to extreme weather. Meter-high walls of snow in the north, tropical climate in the south and a climate in the middle that is not so dissimilar to that in Germany. Apart from the increasing number of natural disasters.

Now the Japanese government wants to take action against the frequent typhoons and heavy rain.

How? By influencing the weather.

This is the eighth of nine “Moonshot” research programs unveiled by Japan. They set plans for various research fields and projects up to 2050. Among other things, it is about the economy or the early detection of dangerous diseases.

Japan in the fight against natural disasters

Global climate change means wind and flood damage caused by such extreme weather events is becoming more severe and frequent – according to the official website of Monshot Program Number 8.

Miyoshi Takemasa, the program manager, emphasized the possibility of manipulating the intensity, timing and/or location of such extreme weather events to avoid or significantly reduce potential damage.

The program covers various research areas. A focus is on the comprehensive study of extreme weather events, which are of great importance for the development of better control strategies.

At the same time, advances in weather forecasting technology such as weather modelling, data assimilation and ensemble methods are to be achieved. The ultimate goal is to realize a weather control technology that is socially, technically and economically viable.

How exactly is this supposed to work?

The research and development work will involve a combination of numerical simulations, control technologies to apply artificial disturbances in the atmosphere and ELSI (Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications).

In short, what sounds complicated means that Japan is investing in better early warning systems and wants to actively influence the weather. This should succeed through different approaches on land, at sea or in the air.

For example, aircraft could ensure that heavy rain clouds release their water earlier.

How the researchers imagine this, they show in a video for which you do not need to be able to speak Japanese:

Link to YouTube content

It remains to be seen how research in this area will develop and what impact it will have on the challenges of the climate catastrophe.

Who hasn’t dreamed of controlling the weather? What do you think of Japan’s approach to weather control? Could you imagine something similar in Germany? Tell us in the comments!