A meteorologist has warned of looming “climate wars” between countries if “cloud seeding” gets out of control, after flooding in Dubai sparked concerns about artificial manipulation of rainfall.
Johan Jaques, senior meteorologist at environmental technology company KISTERS, warned that the use of this relatively young technology could have “unintended consequences”, potentially leading to “diplomatic instability”.
“Every time we interfere with natural precipitation patterns, we set off a chain of events over which we have little control,” he said.
“Interference with time also raises all sorts of ethical questions, as changing the weather in one country could have perhaps unintended but catastrophic effects in another; after all, time recognizes no intentional boundaries.”
Extreme weather and concerns about climate change and its possible manipulation have received attention in recent days with abrupt flooding in Dubai causing widespread disruption and damage to infrastructure.
Cars are stranded on a flooded street in Dubai after heavy rain on April 18, 2024
Cloud seeding injects chemicals into clouds to cause rain. In the United Arab Emirates, rainfall is believed to increase by 15 to 25 percent annually
Hygroscopic flares are placed on an aircraft during a cloud seeding flight operated by the National Center of Meteorology, between Al Ain and Al Hayer, in the United Arab Emirates, on August 24, 2022.
The United Arab Emirates this week suffered horrendous flooding that inundated the airport and many of the surrounding roads, forcing dozens of flights to be canceled as travelers crowded onto the concourse to take shelter from the torrential downpour.
Videos shared on social media showed cars filling with water, forcing hundreds of motorists to abandon their vehicles and swim to safety.
Damage to the region was caused by abrupt torrential rain, with more than 142mm falling on Dubai in just 24 hours – as much as the city would normally expect to see in a year.
The strange climate change has raised concerns about cloud seeding, a process used since the 1940s by which planes equipped with specialized flares release salt into clouds to encourage rain.
Although officials have denied Regarding the role of cloud seeding in this week’s flooding, the United Arab Emirates has used cloud seeding to cause rainfall since the 1990s.
Jaques said heavy rainfall caused by cloud seeding could cause “excessive flow, with possible flash flooding as a result,” as reported. news week.
“The Dubai floods act as a stark warning of the unintended consequences we can unleash when we use such technology to alter the climate,” he said.
“Furthermore, we have little control over the consequences of cloud seeding. Where exactly is it actually going to rain?
“Using techniques like cloud seeding to bring much-needed rain in one area can cause flash floods and droughts in another.”
“Every time we interfere with natural precipitation patterns, we set off a chain of events over which we have little control,” he added.
Ahmed Habib, meteorologist at the UAE National Center of Meteorology (NCM), said Bloomberg Several cloud seeding raids were made in the days leading up to the unprecedented rain.
Speculation about the use of cloud seeding caused the NCM to later deny that the operation had taken place on Tuesday, hours before the storm, but stated that it took place on Sunday and Monday.
Maarten Ambaum, professor of atmospheric physics and dynamics at the University of Reading, suggested that while cloud seeding could be used to generate rain, “you wouldn’t normally develop a very severe storm from that.”
“In the ’50s and ’60s, people were still thinking about using cloud seeding to produce these big weather events or change them.
‘This [has] It has long been recognized that this is not a realistic possibility.
Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading, said: “The UAE carries out operational cloud seeding, but there is a huge difference between what this can achieve – targeting individual developing clouds with seeding material released from a plane) and the Dubai Rains, which were associated with a large weather system moving across the region.
Experts also point to the likely impact of climate change in causing intense weather patterns in the UAE.
Dim Coumou, professor of climate extremes at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told Reuters: “Precipitation from thunderstorms, such as that seen in the United Arab Emirates in recent days, is experiencing a particularly strong increase with warming.
“This is because convection, which is the strong updraft in storms, intensifies in a warmer world.”
The United Arab Emirates, fresh from devastating floods (pictured), have been using cloud seeding to increase rainfall since the 1990s. Authorities deny it caused this week’s floods.
A man crosses a flooded street after heavy rain in Sharjah on April 17, 2024.
A car is stranded on a flooded street in Dubai after heavy rain on April 18, 2024
Rainfall in Dubai began late Monday, drenching Dubai’s sand and roads with about 0.79 inches of rain, according to weather data collected at Dubai International Airport.
The storms intensified around 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail on the overwhelmed city.
By the end of Tuesday, more than 5.59 inches of rain had drenched Dubai for 24 hours.
An average year sees 3.73 inches of rain at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel and a hub for long-haul airline Emirates.
Authorities canceled classes and the government instituted a work-from-home policy while the cleanup operation continues.