Scientists Attribute Dubai Floods to Climate Change, Dismiss Cloud Seeding Speculations.

Recent flooding in Dubai sparked discussions about the possibility of cloud seeding causing the unprecedented Rainfall. However, experts refute this theory, pointing instead to the effects of climate change.

Dubai Floods: What Occurred?: The storm originated in Oman before intensifying and hitting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), causing power outages and disrupting air travel. Reports indicated at least 20 casualties in Oman due to the heavy Rainfall, leading to UAE government offices and school closures. Al Ain, a city bordering Oman, recorded a record-breaking 254 millimeters (10 inches) of Rainfall within 24 hours, surpassing the country’s average annual Rainfall. The UAE and the broader Arabian Peninsula typically experience arid desert climates, making heavy Rainfall rare. The region’s inadequate drainage systems exacerbated the flooding, causing damage to roads and infrastructure.

Cloud Seeding Speculations in Dubai: Speculation arose regarding the potential role of cloud seeding in influencing the heavy Rainfall. Cloud seeding involves introducing chemicals into clouds to stimulate precipitation, often used in water-scarce regions. The UAE has been conducting cloud-seeding efforts since the 1980s through its Rain Enhancement Programme, managed by the Emirates’ National Centre of Meteorology (NCM). However, experts suggest that the significant Rainfall was likely due to a conventional weather system exacerbated by climate change.

Climate Change’s Role in Dubai’s 24-Hour Rainfall : Senior forecasters at NCM attribute the heavy Rainfall to a combination of low-pressure systems in the upper atmosphere and surface-level pressure fluctuations conducive to intense thunderstorms. The NCM confirmed no cloud-seeding operations were conducted during the storm or before the deluge in Dubai and neighboring cities. Climate experts emphasize the contribution of rising global temperatures, linked to human-induced climate change, to more frequent and intense extreme weather events worldwide. They caution against attributing extreme weather solely to weather manipulation practices, urging recognition of them as severe impacts of climate change.

According to climate scientists, warming temperatures strengthen convection, the strong updraft in thunderstorms, leading to increased Rainfall. Experts dismiss that cloud seeding could generate the volume of rain witnessed in Dubai, emphasizing that it cannot create clouds from anything.