China has a real problem on its hands. On a bad day in Beijing, visibility can be measured in tens of yards.

China declared a “war on pollution” this week, and is now fortifying its arsenal with a new weapon: smog-clearing drones. The drones work by shooting chemicals into the air, freezing pollutants and making them fall to the ground, according to state media. The unmanned vehicles currently carry about 176 pounds of haze-scrubbing chemicals, while future versions will hold more than 1,500 pounds.

I’m all for cleaning the air, but this approach seems naive to me. Even if it works, when the pollutants hit the ground, won’t they be scattered, by shuffling feet, bicycles and cars, back into the air again, this time in a layer lower to the ground and denser with hazardous materials?

That said, they’ve got to do something, and maybe this will lead to better long term solutions.