Cloud Seeding Gone Wrong in Dubai

Cloud Seeding Gone Wrong In Dubai? Rare Floods Bring City To Standstill As World Battles Extreme Weather

Dubai was submerged after it witnesses a year and a half's worth of rainfall on Tuesday. After the hottest and driest region on Earth drowned in rain within hours, the reason behind the rare occasion seems to be unclear.

Danita Yadav
Updated on: 17 April 2024 3:5 pm
Heavy rains and rare floods have brought the bustling city of Dubai to a complete standstill. The heavy rainfall, which was partly caused by cloud seedling, triggered a year and a half's worth of rain to fall over the desert like city-state.

The heavy downpour blocked major highways and submerged several runaways at the Dubai International Airport.

The floods also triggered Dubai Airport all delay, cancel or divert almost all flights as the runaways were not operational.

As images and videos of the Dubai floods take the internet by storm, a common question is asked - is this cloud seeding or climate change?

What Is Cloud Seeding?

The United Arab Emirates is one of the hottest and driest regions on Earth. The gulf state uses cloud seeding technology to increase precipitation across the country.

Through Cloud Seeding, also known as artificial rain, silver iodide or potassium iodide are injected into clouds using aircrafts and helicopters. These particles help increase the condensation of the water vapour which in turn helps in the formation of raindrops.

Cloud seeding is used in areas such as the UAE to trigger rainfall and to avoid drought-like conditions.

What Caused Dubai To Flood?

As per a CNN report, the heavy downpour on Dubai was linked to a larger storm system in the Arabian Peninsula moving across the Gulf of Oman.

The same system brought heavy floods to Oman and southeastern Iran. days before it struck Dubai.

While the exact reason behind the unprecedented floods is not clear, it seems to be a combination of both cloud seeding and climate change.

As per Bloomberg, the rainfall and extreme floods were linked to active cloud seeding operations which resulted in additional rainfall.

Extreme Weather Reported Across The World

Apart from Dubai, heavy storms have lashed across Pakistan and Afghanistan as well. In Pakistan, around 63 people have been killed and in Afghanistan, over 50 people have died due to the storms and heavy rainfall.