Understanding Dubai Floods: Man-made Rain or Climate Change: What Wrought Devastation After Severe Rains? DISCUSSED

Latest News: Heavy rains on Tuesday caused sections of key roads and Dubai’s international airport to flood, causing extensive damage to be recorded in the Arab metropolis. According to some analysts, the cloud seeding caused significant flooding in Dubai and other regions of the UAE due to the intense precipitation.

The UAE government issued advisories urging workers to work from home and only go “in cases of extreme necessity” in response to the unusually high rainfall. The afternoon flight operations at the Dubai airport were also suspended due to the heavy downpour, however, they were resumed twenty-five minutes later.

What Caused Dubai’s Heavy Rainfall?
According to CNN, a bigger storm system that was moving over the Gulf of Oman and across the Arabian Peninsula was interrupted by the intense precipitation that hit Dubai, upsetting the regular routine.

In addition to Dubai, rainfall was also seen in southeast Iran and neighboring Oman. Eighteen people died as a consequence of the region’s catastrophic flooding brought on by Oman’s recent heavy rainfall.

However, Friederike Otto, a specialist in evaluating how climate change affects certain severe weather occurrences, said that the extraordinary rainfall is mostly caused by global warming.

According to Otto, it is very possible that the catastrophic and lethal rain that fell on Oman and Dubai was intensified by climate change brought on by humans, as reported by AFP.

Another Bloomberg piece claimed that cloud seeding—a technique in which chemicals and microscopic particles are sent into the sky to increase the amount of rain produced by clouds—was to blame for the torrential downpours.

How Heavy Rainfall Was Caused by Cloud Seeding
Interestingly, Dubai was one of the first cities in the Persian Gulf to use cloud seeding technology to boost precipitation, which amounted to less than 100 millimeters (3.9 inches) a year on average.

The main goal of using this technology is to meet the water needs of the expanding population and the economy, which has been expanding into other sectors like tourism.

In addition to the UAE, other nations in the area who want to see more precipitation use comparable technologies, such as Saudi Arabia and Oman.

This alternative has also being investigated by Indian scientists in an effort to lessen the pollution that arrives with winter in the country’s northern regions.

How Does Cloud Seeding Operate and What Is It?
Experts claim that cloud seeding is a method of modifying the weather to increase precipitation. During this procedure, airplanes or helicopters are used to inject materials into clouds, such as potassium or silver iodide. Then, these substances aid in the condensation of water vapor and the creation of ice crystals or raindrops, which causes clouds to form and precipitation to follow.

However, certain climatic factors, such as the existence of clouds that are heavy with moisture and certain wind patterns, are necessary for cloud seeding to be successful.

This is not the first time; in an effort to address concerns with water security, the United Arab Emirates used the cloud seeding method back in 2002.

According to Ahmed Habib, a specialist meteorologist for Bloomberg, seven flights have been carried out by seeding aircraft in the last two days, suggesting that this may also be an instantaneous trigger.