In a tragic development, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and neighboring countries were recently subjected to heavy rains, leading to devastating floods, deaths, property damage and flight cancellations.
Heavy downpours in Dubai, UAE have led to flooding, rendering roads almost impassable and causing water to pool on taxiways at the airport. Dubai International Airport reports limited transportation options and flight disruptions due to crews being unable to access the airfield. pic.twitter.com/Pzef8HMMMH
— The Eastleigh Voice (@Eastleighvoice) April 17, 2024
A meteorologist in the government previously indicated that the UAE’s geoengineering efforts could be blamed for the natural disaster. Since there are deaths involved, the government task force responsible for cloud-seeding missions in the country is trying to deny responsibility.
Leftist media outlets, including the Guardian and Wired, have given the UAE government the benefit of the doubt, claiming that climate change or other factors could be responsible.
The Blaze pointed out that cloud seeding is a controversial weather modification strategy that involves aircraft, cannons, rockets or ground generators releasing different chemicals and small particles like potassium chloride into clouds to try and increase precipitation.
A professor at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Ari Laaksonen, said there are two main cloud-seeding techniques. He noted that hygroscopic cloud seeding speeds up droplet coalescence in liquid clouds, “leading to production of large droplets that start to precipitate.”
The other strategy is called glaciogenic cloud seeding, which works to “trigger ice production in supercooled clouds, leading to precipitation.”
Cloud seeding reportedly played a massive role in increasing Utah’s water supply by about 12% in 2018. The Khaleej Times of Dubai reported that the UAE increased its efforts under the country’s Research Program for Rain Enhancement.
In September 2023, the scheme’s director, Alya Almazroui, said, “By experimenting with various seeding approaches, we anticipate that these campaigns could lead to a more effective cloud-seeding approach and, consequently, increased rainfall in the targeted areas.”
On April 16, 2024, the UAE faced a year’s worth of rain, devastating Dubai and leading the country’s airport to be closed, according to ABC News Australia.
In addition to diverting flights, the heavy rains created destructive floods across the UAE and Bahrain, killing 20 individuals in Oman and another in the Emirates.
Dubai’s media office indicated that the rains experienced by the UAE marked the heaviest in 75 years.
A meteorological specialist with the Gulf State’s National Center of Meteorology (NCM) Dr. Ahmed Habib said the agency sent seeding planes from Al Ain airport to “take advantage of convective cloud formations.”
