Overview of Cloud Seeding in Relation to Record Rainfall and Flooding in Dubai
There have been suggestions in media reports that cloud seeding may have played a role in the unprecedented rainfall and flooding in Dubai, UAE. This article delves into cloud seeding – its purpose, methods, and the debate surrounding its potential impact on worsening the flooding situation.
Cloud Seeding Explained
Cloud seeding is a process that involves adding substances to clouds in order to enhance precipitation.
The formation of precipitation involves the merging of small water vapor droplets and ice crystals in clouds to form larger, heavier droplets or pellets that eventually fall as rain or snow.
Often, the process involves dispersing particles of salts like silver iodide or table salt using specialized flares attached to airplanes or launched through projectiles like rockets, cannons, or missiles.
The United Arab Emirates has also employed drones to shoot clouds with electrical charges as part of cloud seeding efforts.
Is this technology something new?
No, the technology has existed since the 1940s and has been implemented in numerous countries, including Canada. Surprisingly, researchers have only recently been able to demonstrate its efficacy by differentiating between naturally occurring and artificially induced precipitation.
Cloud seeding is being considered as a potential solution to prevent drought.
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Cloud seeding to prevent drought?
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Overview
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– It is commonly utilized to combat droughts by stimulating precipitation, such as the approach taken by the U.A.E. to replenish its diminishing groundwater reserves.
In the United States, there have been initiatives to utilize it for combating wildfires.
In Canada, cloud seeding is frequently utilized to minimize the impact of hailstorms by inducing precipitation (rain or snow) from the clouds before hail can form.
Cloud-seeding pilots experience a year filled with activity
How well does it work?
"The outcomes of approximately seven decades of studies on the efficiency of cloud seeding are varied," stated atmospheric scientist William R. Cotton of Colorado State University in a 2022 article published in The Conversation. He also mentioned that successful cloud seeding depends on specific types of clouds with sufficient moisture, suitable temperature and wind conditions, and results in minimal enhancements in precipitation.
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According to a recent study, the snowfall generated by three cloud seeding events was equivalent to filling 282 Olympic-sized swimming pools with water, falling over an area measuring 80 by 80 kilometers. On average, this resulted in a tenth of a millimeter of snow at any specific location.
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According to Cotton, even with conflicting evidence, a lot of communities are relying on the effectiveness of the solution.
According to the U.A.E. National Centre of Meteorology, cloud seeding has the potential to increase rainfall from a particular cloud by 25% in ideal conditions, and it is considered essential in the overall efforts to address climate change and improve climate resilience.
According to the text, hail suppression is deemed sufficiently efficient that insurance firms in Canada spend millions annually to cloud seed in Alberta.
A possible connection between cloud seeding and the Dubai floods is being investigated.
According to The Associated Press, meteorologists from the National Centre for Meteorology reported that they conducted six or seven cloud-seeding flights prior to the rains. Flight-tracking data analyzed by AP revealed that an aircraft involved in the U.A.E.'s cloud seeding activities circled the country on Monday.
Residents in Dubai are dealing with the consequences of sudden floods.
The English-language newspaper The National, which is linked to the state of Abu Dhabi, reported on Wednesday that an unnamed official from the center stated that there was no cloud seeding conducted on Tuesday, without mentioning any previous flights.
According to statements by researchers from the University of Reading, including those who collaborated with the U.A.E. on electric cloud seeding technology, they believe that cloud seeding did not play a significant role in the extreme weather conditions.
> Maarten Ambaum, a meteorologist at the University of Reading who researched rainfall patterns in the Gulf region, stated that while the U.A.E. engages in cloud seeding to increase rainfall in its arid areas, current technology cannot artificially generate or significantly alter such weather events.
Summary:
The clouds in question were already expected to bring heavy rain, so there would not have been any advantage to seeding them.
Study shows that the risk of a dangerous combination of wildfires and floods is increasing due to climate change.
> Other researchers concurred.
According to Roslyn Prinsley, who is the director of disaster solutions at the Australian National University Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, the probability of cloud seeding causing a flood is extremely low. She dismissed these suggestions as "conspiracy theories."
According to Ambaum and Prinsley, climate change may be a contributing factor to the increased extreme rainfall due to the ability of a warmer atmosphere to hold more water vapor.
