Are the Floods in Dubai Due to its Cloud Seeding Initiative?
Will it rain more in the UAE? According to the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), yes it will and it’s expected to continue till Tuesday. A source from NCM told Gulf News that “nine cloud seeding flights have been completed since Thursday…there were some cloud seeding flights we launched today and it is going to continue.” The weather forecaster added, “The clouds are now over southern and eastern areas such as Al Ain. The weather will remain cloudy all evening. By night there will be rainfall in northern, eastern and coastal regions of the country.”
Unfortunately, hailstorms, lightning, thunder greeted Dubai’s residents today, with temperatures across the country falling drastically; the highest temperature today is 24 Celsius in Dubai. The sea level is also expected to be very high, both in the Arabian Gulf and the Oman Sea, with wave heights of 8 – 10 ft until 11 pm.
Since the water shortage crisis is getting worse by the minute, the UAE has turned itself into a pioneer in the Middle East, especially when it comes to the science of “rainmaking”. As of mid-November 2019, the UAE had already carried out 185 cloud-seeding operations since the start of the year.
According to the NCM, “the activity increases rainfall by an average of 10-15 percent and, in certain conditions, it can reach up to 30 percent.” Some believe that UAE’s cloud seeding has gone too far; is it really a good idea to be playing with mother nature, injecting chemicals into the skies? It’s hard to believe that the home to part of the largest sand desert in the world, with summer temperatures that are usually above 40 celsius, an area rarely associated with rain, is now waterlogged with flooded streets and buildings!
