As one of the most populous countries in the world, China has always been faced with the problem of scarcity of various natural resources, among which the scarcity of water resources is a prominent problem in the process of our development.
Although the total area of China's water area is 2.5 million square kilometers, only 2,000 cubic meters of water resources are available per capita, and the distribution of water resources in China is still very uneven.
The south has abundant water resources and frequent floods, which have brought economic losses to the local area to a large extent, while in the north, because of the relative scarcity of water resources, droughts often occur, and agricultural and social development have also been hindered to a certain extent.
Under such circumstances, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which is beneficial to both sides, has been proposed, and since the completion and operation of the project, it has also benefited the lives of many people in the areas along the route.
However, it inevitably has some drawbacks, which also have a certain impact on people's lives, so the concept of "air canal" was first proposed in 2016.
As soon as this concept was proposed, it aroused widespread discussion, and when it comes to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, people still mention this plan to "divert water" from heaven.
So how exactly did the "air canal" plan come to fruition? What are the advantages compared with the South-to-North Water Diversion Project?
The distribution of water resources in China has always been more in the south and less in the north, which will lead to a significant decline in the utilization rate of water resources to a certain extent.
For example, there is more arable land in the north, but because of its less water resources, it is often drought and water shortage, which leads to a certain impact and loss on the agricultural economy.
At the same time, the south is rich in rainwater resources, and there are many lakes and rivers, and the abundant water resources often bring some floods to the south.
When the South-to-North Water Diversion Project was first built, the reason was that water resources in the north were relatively scarce and often had to face disasters such as droughts.
At first, the impact of water shortage was not so great, but later, with the development of the industrial economy, the contradiction between supply and demand in this area became increasingly prominent, and the development of the local economy was seriously affected.
Moreover, most of the water resources in the north are distributed underground, but due to the drought and lack of rain in the north, if the groundwater is not replenished in time if it is rashly developed, the ecological environment in the north will be seriously affected and damaged.
Therefore, scientists decided to transfer water resources from the south to the north to balance the distribution of water resources between the two places, so as to reduce the drought and flood disasters in the north and south and avoid the aggravation of disasters.
Since the start of operation of the various lines of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the source of the middle route project is the clean drinking water of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, which has indeed brought great convenience to the people in the two places, but it inevitably has some drawbacks.
For example, in the process of construction, it took 50 years of planning in the early stage alone, and the benefits of this huge project are huge, but the cost to be paid is also huge.
During the construction of this project, some residents along the way even had to leave their former homes in order to facilitate the completion of the project.
In the process of operation, there is also the potential to cause serious damage to the local ecosystem, because in the process of opening the floodgates, fish species that were not previously part of the northern region will come here with the current.
Some aquatic organisms are very adaptable and reproductive, so they start to flood here and cause biological invasions.
The number of aquatic species in the area is decreasing, and there are some fishermen who make a living from fishing, and the catch of one will be greatly reduced, and their survival will be threatened.
But the overall benefits far outweigh the disadvantages, but in order to make people's lives better, technical experts are actively solving these problems and actively planning new water diversion projects.
In 2016, a joint research team from Qinghai and Tsinghua University launched the concept of the "Tianhe Project", which aroused widespread discussion in 2018.
Wang Guangqian, an academician at Qinghai University, said that the idea is to establish a channel for water vapor transport from the boundary layer of the atmosphere to the troposphere.
In this way, the water vapor can be controlled, and the water vapor is transferred to the water vapor if water resources are needed, in this channel, the water vapor can circulate with each other, and the atmospheric circulation and the climate and environment on the ground have a certain impact on the water vapor content.
When this idea was first proposed, it must have aroused public skepticism, because at that time we did not have the technology and equipment to carry our idea.
All ideas are based on the measurement and analysis of experimental data, in which water vapor in the air needs to be intercepted and then sent to a "destination" in drought and water scarcity using meteorological conditions.
This is still very different from the kind of artificial precipitation we are familiar with, and there is a very big breakthrough in both difficulty and efficiency.
But now that we have reached a new level of technology in all aspects, what was considered absurd at the time is now considered a viable solution by more and more people.
So what kind of technology is needed to realize this project, and how is it realized?
Their original idea was to use satellites to detect water vapour in rain-rich areas, and then to manually intervene in the distribution and flow of this water vapour.
For example, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has not yet completely solved the problem of drought in the northwest, and the western route project has not started for a long time.
The western route project is mainly located in the Hengduan Mountains on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which greatly increases the difficulty of construction, and the project investment will naturally increase.
Secondly, it is also very difficult to extract water resources from the water intake points on the western route, and the reserves are not particularly abundant, so if you don't plan well, it will cause great damage to the ecological environment.
The "air canal" can solve these problems very well, with the "air canal", water vapor can be transported through this channel, and then the use of artificial rainfall equipment for precipitation.
In this way, precipitation in the Sanjiangyuan region can theoretically be greatly increased, and satellite detection is required in the process, and ground detection needs to be carried out simultaneously.
In fact, in the last century, foreign scientists have proposed the concept of intercepting water vapor, but so far no country has succeeded.
In fact, among the specialized resource exploration satellites launched by China, suitable atmospheric channels have been successfully found, and water vapor can be transported smoothly in these channels.
However, what is more difficult is to accurately deliver the water vapor to the destination, and the project staff is still actively exploring, if the project is successful, the benefits and significance will be huge.
According to professional technicians, if the Tianhe project can be realized, it will be able to deliver at least 5 billion tons of water to water-scarce places every year, which is more time-saving, convenient and fast.
Because when this project was built, the canals and surrounding infrastructure that were built during the South-to-North Water Diversion Project were completely unused.
At the same time, there is no need to occupy the corresponding land and energy, and the lives of residents along the way will not be greatly affected and hindered, let alone leave their former residences, so that the investment funds in all aspects can be greatly reduced.
This is even more true due to the destruction of the local hydrological ecosystem caused by the biological invasions we mentioned earlier, and the principle of this "aerial canal" is that there is a natural water cycle and no migration of aquatic organisms.
In addition, if the project is finally realized, it will be possible to make changes in real time according to the actual situation, and in the event of various climate changes and sudden disasters, the time, place, and amount of water can be adjusted appropriately.
There are advantages, and they are also very desirable, but thinking about the South-to-North Water Diversion from planning to operation, we also know that there is a long way to go.
This project is destined to require higher technology and greater cost, not only high-precision observation and analysis technology in the fields of atmospheric science and aerospace science, but also the technical efficiency of artificial weather modification.
In the process of operation, we also need to launch a large number of radars, drones and satellites to assist in the process of water vapor transport and artificial rainfall.
The South-to-North Water Transfer Project will cost 250 billion yuan, and the actual cost of this project may be even larger, but it is undeniable that once this project is completed, the economic benefits will be huge.
After this project was proposed, some people made a rough estimate that it could save at least 250 billion yuan for our country, which is an extremely innovative way, so it is destined to face huge challenges and difficulties.
At present, the relevant test satellites launched by China to monitor the feasibility of this concept are in good operation, and this beacon of hope has brought hope to everyone.
It is believed that in the future, with the development and progress of science and technology, there will be a big breakthrough in this project, and the drought problem that plagues the development of the northwest region will also be well solved.
If the northwest region can have abundant water resources, then its ecology will definitely usher in a very perfect development, and the ecological benefits will be huge, which will further promote the development of China's economy.
We always have a longing for this day to come.
Disclaimer) The article describes the process, **all** on the Internet, this article aims to advocate positive social energy, no vulgarity and other bad guidance. If it involves copyright or character infringement issues, please contact us in time, and we will delete the content as soon as possible! If there is any doubt about the incident, it will be deleted or changed immediately after contact.