Dubai has seen some severe rise in temperature over the past few years which leads to a number of heatwaves. During summer months the temperature usually goes over 45 degrees celsius, which makes it one of the most unpleasant places to visit during that time. To ease the problem, the government, with the help of scientists, decided to take the matter into its own hands and tried the technology of Cloud Seeding.
The United Arab Emirates has been using this methods for over a decade. They started this process in the 1990s and today the UAE has over 60 network weather stations and conducted 311 cloud-seeding missions in 2022 alone! This program is mostly focused on mountainous areas in the northeast of the country.
Clouds are essentially made of water vapour, and when this vapour goes high in the sky, the cool temperature causes the vapour to turn to water droplets, which in turn stick to small particles like dust or sea salt present in the air. For cloud seeding, various substances are introduced into the cloud to act as ice nuclei which in turn help in generating precipitation. This explains how the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology was able to conjure up rain in a city where the weather is always dry and warm. Drone technology was used to carry out the process of cloud seeding.
But is this an effective method?
The UAE had shortlisted research projects and even got a $1.5 million grant to aid the cloud seeding efforts. The National Centre of Meteorology got eight different projects to look after the scarcity of water in the region with the help of modern technology. Before this, cloud seeding had already been an important part of the UAE in the process to induce rain in the dry parts of the land. This process is quite expensive. It requires years of research and a lot of money for a country to even consider applying this method of acquiring rain. Besides, it totally depends on the atmospheric conditions of the place for this method to work.
The substances which are mostly used in cloud seeding mostly include silver iodide. These substances have raised concerns as there is no proper research on their effect on the environment. Additionally, it causes Iodism, which can have harmful effects on humans.
Are we ignoring major problems by cloud seeding?
Climate change can be a big factor in explaining why there is a sudden rise in temperature in various regions. So much so that we need artificial rain to fight the heat. With Cloud Seeding, we might actually be ignoring the fact that Global Warming exists and it is making things worse. Ironically, nations are ready to spend millions on Cloud Seeding but not on battling climate change.
The brighter side
In areas where there is less rainfall, like Dubai, cloud seeding can actually be a good thing. Since the temperature can go too high in some regions, cloud seeding can help regulate the weather, hence making the lives of people easier in warm and dry places. It can also play a part in saving the environment by assisting in solving the problem of water scarcity in those areas. Other than this, cloud seeding can help in increasing agriculture in a country. The farmers won’t have to wait for the scarce rain to grow certain crops. This in turn help in boosting the economy of the country as the agriculture sector will only grow.
Till now, this process has been beneficial for UAE. The country carries out the process with military protocols, making sure everything runs smoothly. This helps in maintaining UAE’s vision of creating alternative sources of water for its citizens.
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