China announces plans to expand the experimental weather modification program

 

In a major development, China’s State Council has revealed stunning breakthroughs in research and the latest technologies pertaining to weather programs. According to a report, China will get an advanced weather modification system by the year 2025.

The report claims that the entire area of artificial rainfall is expected to cover over 5.5 million square kilometres. Meanwhile, the area of hail suppression will include approximately 5,80,000 square kilometres that will be more than Victoria.

According to a statement released, there will be strong development in vital technologies, a gradual progress in modernization, refined services, and strong prevention against safety risks.

The weather modification will help the country’s agricultural production and protect the ecologically endangered areas, added the State Council. Also, the program will help in controlling natural calamities like drought, fires, extreme temperatures, and hail among others.

Earlier, China tried to control the weather in a bid to save the farming areas and to guarantee clear skies during crucial events.

Previously, China seeded clouds prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics with the aim to bring down smog and get rid of the possibilities of rain. Also, the vital political meetings that took place in the Chinese capital are infamous for enjoying stunning clear skies as a result of the weather modification and closure of surrounding factories.  

It is worth mentioning that cloud seeding has been there in existence in China for over 10 years. It functions by injecting a little amount of silver iodide into clouds with plenty of moisture which subsequently condenses around the new particles. It leads them to become heavier and ultimately dropping as precipitation.

The uncertainty continued as China invested majorly in the technology between 2012 and 2017. It spent approximately $1.34 billion on several weather modification programs. Earlier in 2019, weather modification helped in bringing down about 70% of hail damage in China.

The Investing Lessons We Have Learnt From the Coronavirus Crisis

The Covid-19 crisis had erupted late last year from China and spread all across the globe like a wildfire. The pandemic has so far claimed lives all over the world and infected millions. Everyone is hoping that a vaccine will be able to curb it significantly. It will bring the confidence of investors back. The Covid-19 outbreak compelled governments globally to resort to stringent measures that may include lockdown and tough quarantine steps in a bid to contain it. The only silver lining that we may think of is that there are several investment lessons from Covid-19 crisis that we can consider to keep ourselves safe and secure.

Emergency funds: The pandemic has taught us the significance of emergency funds. It is important to allocate some emergency funds as any emergency would require such funds. The cash will prove quite useful when all of sudden you become unsure how to arrange the basic things. Several individuals were compelled to exhaust their avenues that may put them in poor financial situation in the longer run. In the absence of good planning, you may have to rely on your credit card or superannuation fund. Some people accept a loan repayment holiday that may put them in bad financial condition. If you have money to fall back on, you will be able to sustain a tough condition. You do not have to allocate massive cash in your emergency funds account. If you add just a few dollars from each pay cheque or other source of income will be sufficient. When you face any cash flow crisis, the emergency fund will come to your rescue. 

Build a humble budget: When you have a household budget in place, you can easily find out what you have been spending and where you need to make cuts. Smart budgeters love to remain on top of their expenditures. They are aware when bills will get due, how to avoid late fees, review insurance annually in a bid to seize the best deal, and forecast what incomes will come in the near future. So you must ensure that you have an effective spending and investment plan in place as it has emerged a powerful tool.

Invest in yourself: It is significant to invest in enhancing your educations and skills. The more you invest in your skills, the stronger will be your earning potential during any crisis. The higher you earn during your working lives, the stronger you will be financially for retirement. There are many courses that you can take up online and availability of government subsidies will make several courses economical or even free of cost.

You will face less risk in diversity: If you have purchased shares in the leading supermarkets or invested in Zoom, you would have witnessed that value of your investment rise while many others tumbled during a crisis. There is a strong likelihood that some investments perform better than others during a crisis. Therefore, diversification plays a vital role. You must not have all your investment eggs in one basket as it will help you avoid complete wipeout. .

Top Performing and Worst Performing Sectors

Amid the ongoing crisis, the ASX systems ended up halting all trading. However, the Australian markets fared well as the Financial Services sector remained up over 5%, the Energy sector also remained higher at 5% and consumer discretionary too remained up by 2%. Meanwhile, the Information Technology sector emerged as the worst-performing sector as it remained down approximately 2%. Utility sector too bore the brunt and witnessed a decline by 1%. Communications Services also stayed in the red zone.

Bottom Line:

The Australia Market may witness a surge as markets continue to rebound globally. The reports of the possible arrival of an effective vaccine led the markets to rise for 12 of the last 13 trading days. Markets achieved a mammoth gain of approximately 10% following these reports. Amid the present volatilities that have gripped the market, it is not wise to take risks. Wait and see is the best approach for now. In these tumultuous times, quality blue-chip stocks should on your watch list. At the same time, it is essential to take vital investment lessons from any crisis so that you can equip yourself in preparation for future crises.