Dubai Floods Spark Cloud Seeding Controversy

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is currently grappling with historic floods that have inundated roads, highways, and even disrupted flights at Dubai International Airport. The flooding has resulted in nearly 20 deaths in neighboring Oman, prompting questions about the role of cloud seeding in these extreme weather events.

Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that involves releasing particles, such as silver iodide or natural salts, into clouds to enhance precipitation. The UAE has been actively using this technique since the 1990s to increase rainfall in its arid climate. However, experts are divided on whether cloud seeding could have contributed to the unprecedented rainfall that Dubai experienced.

As videos of the intense flooding circulated on social media, many speculated about the potential impact of cloud seeding. Some reports suggested that cloud seeding operations were conducted on Monday and Tuesday, just before the flooding occurred. However, conflicting information emerged, with the country’s National Center of Meteorology stating that seeding only took place on Sunday and Monday, and later denying any seeding activities prior to the flooding.

Despite the speculation, experts are skeptical that cloud seeding could have caused such extreme rainfall. Professor Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, stated that no technology currently exists to create or significantly modify rainfall events of this magnitude. He attributed the heavy rainfall to thunderstorms, which can produce large amounts of rain as they occur one after another, drawing moisture up into the atmosphere.

Furthermore, climate change is believed to have played a role in the extreme weather, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor, leading to more intense rainfall events. Roslyn Prinsley of the Australian National University Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions dismissed the idea of cloud seeding causing the floods as a “conspiracy theory.”

In terms of how cloud seeding works, it typically involves ground-based generators or aircraft dispersing compounds into clouds. In the UAE, pilots use specialized planes equipped with hygroscopic flares to shoot natural salts into clouds, increasing water droplet size and forcing them to fall as rain. Despite concerns, experts suggest that these salts have no negative environmental impact.

The recent flooding in Dubai, which saw 5.59 inches of rain in a single day, has raised questions about the efficacy and potential side effects of cloud seeding. While the UAE’s cloud seeding program aims to increase rainfall in the region, experts caution against attributing extreme weather events solely to this technique.