The desert city of Dubai was soaked in 25 cm (10 inches) of rain in just 24 hours. This is actually the amount of rain that it typically gets in nearly two years. According to the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology, the historic rainfall has been witnessed for the first time in the last 75 years.
Rains flooded major highways and disrupted flights at Dubai International Airport. Homes were flooded and vehicles were abandoned on roadways in Dubai as authorities sent tanker trucks to pump away the water.
Images posted on social media show flagship shopping malls Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates flooded, with Dubai Metro Station in ankle-deep water. Lightning was seen occasionally touching the tip of Burj Khalifa – the world’s tallest building.
So, why did Dubai witness unprecedented rains?
Experts say the rainwater is associated with a larger storm system traversing through the Arabian Peninsula and moving across Gulf of Oman. This is also bringing unusually wet weather to neighbouring Oman and southern-eastern Iran.
According to climate scientist Colin McCarthy, the heavy rains are attributed to multiple rounds of intense thunderstorms forming off the warm waters of the Persian Gulf.
Others are attributed rains to climate change. Climatologist Friederike Otto said it is highly likely that the “deadly and destructive rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused climate change,” as quoted by news agency AFP.
Some meteorologists and climate specialists point out that cloud seeding could have enhanced heavy rains in the desert city. “Dubai is no stranger to dust but the storm had engulfed a huge amount of dust right over the area. Dust is also a cloud seeder, we call it condensation nuclei, so how can one be certain the man-made seeding was responsible when a desert’s worth of dust was suspended overhead?” asked Jeff Berardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist (Tampa Bay, US), on social media site X.
“Future rainfall extremes are projected to increase with global warming according to theory and climate models, but common (annual) and rare (decennial or centennial) extremes could be affected differently,” according to Nature journal.
What is Cloud Seeding and How It Enhanced Rains in Dubai?
The UAE started cloud seeding operations in 2000s to address water security issues, even though the lack of drainage in many areas can trigger flooding.
The Gulf state’s National Center of Meteorology dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to take advantage of convective cloud formations, according to Ahmed Habib, a specialist meteorologist. That technique involves implanting chemicals and tiny particles — often natural salts such as potassium chloride — into the atmosphere to coax more rain from clouds.
According BNN Bloomberg quoting specialist meteorologist Ahmed Habib, the National Center of Meteorology dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to tap into the convective cloud formations. This technique involves implanting chemicals and tiny particles often salt such as potassium chloride into the atmosphere to coax more rain from clouds.
The method of seeding involves producing more rain by launching salt flares or other small materials into clouds. These flares, mounted on the aircraft’s wings, contain salt material components. Upon reaching the target clouds, the flares are deployed, releasing the seeding agent into the cloud.
The salt particles serve as nuclei around which water droplets condense, eventually growing heavy enough to fall as precipitation in the form of rain.
“The NCM has established a national network of 86 automatic weather stations (AWOS) for weather monitoring, six weather radars covering the entire UAE, and one upper air station. The Centre has also created climate databases and assisted in the development of high precision Numerical Weather Predictions and simulation software in the UAE,” the UAEREP’s description of the process reads
According to Minister of Climate Change of Environment Mariam Al Mheiri, the nation’s rain enhancement initiative is essential to enhancing food and water security, as well as replenishing groundwater reserves and driving tourism.
The Gulf nation’s artificial rain programme had been bolstered by collaborative scientific and technical research with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado, USA, Witwatersrand University in South Africa, and NASA.
Climate Change Impact on Dubai
Sea Levels: The UAE has nearly 1,300 km of coastline, and around 85% of the population and over 90% of the infrastructure of UAE is located within several metres of the sea. The Stockholm Environment Institute’s US Center report found that UAE could lose up to 6% of its developed coastline by the end of the century because of rising sea levels. In 1996 and 1998, the UAE faced two catastrophic coral bleaching and mortality events associated with seawater temperature anomalies.
Water Disasters: Global warming can increase the gap between water demand and availability. Some places in UAE will frequently witness flooding while others will experience drought and water shortage.
Agriculture: Higher temperatures, increased weeds and harmful insects will start affecting agricultural crops. Global warming could lead to shortage of food globally. UAE could suffer more salty water, and local food will be hard to find.
Pollution and Power Supply: Global warming will reduce the use of heaters in winter but increase the need for ACs in summer. Massive pollution could also increase during global warming. UAE has 80 tonne per capita emission of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide compared to only 14 tonnes per American head yearly. A high number of air conditioners, desalination plants and power stations run on power produced from carbon-based fuel, which is also toxic at certain levels to humans.