In the face of escalating global temperatures, regions like the Middle East find themselves uniquely susceptible to the repercussions of climate change.
“These nations are now faced with a big problem, how can they solve their water shortage issues?”
The United Arab Emirates stands as a stark example, with an average annual rainfall of less than 200 millimeters— a striking contrast to London’s 1,051 millimeters and Singapore’s 3,012 millimeters.
In the UAE, where it can get as hot as 50 degrees Celsius (122° Fahrenheit) in the summer, about 80% of the land is covered by desert.The intense heat makes water scarcity even worse, which makes it harder to grow crops.
The United Nations forecasts that by 2025, a staggering 1.8 billion people worldwide will confront absolute water scarcity. The Middle East emerges prominently as one of the most water-stressed regions, with approximately 83% of its population susceptible to high levels of water stress.
In response to this pressing issue, the Gulf state has initiated a comprehensive program aimed at tackling water scarcity head-on.
Introducing The Cloud Seeding
In the 1990s, the UAE introducefduced a rain enhancement strategy known as cloud seeding, aiming to alleviate water scarcity challenges in its arid regions.
Cloud seeding uses chemicals to make clouds produce rain. It’s been used since 1947, and it’s becoming more important, especially in dry places like the UAE, to increase rainfall.
By the early 2000s, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s vice president, earmarked up to $20 million for cloud seeding research. Collaborating with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and NASA, the UAE laid the groundwork for its cloud seeding program.
The government in Abu Dhabi has a special group called The National Center of Meteorology (NCM). They do cloud seeding over 1,000 hours every year to make more rain. The NCM uses lots of weather radars and over 60 weather stations to watch the weather closely.
The Process It Includes
The process begins with weather forecasters at the center analyzing precipitation patterns within clouds to identify suitable candidates for seeding, aiming to enhance rainfall rates.
When clouds are found, pilots fly out in special planes with flares on the wings that help make more rain.
These flares, containing approximately 1 kilogram of salt material components each, are ignited and released into the targeted clouds. It takes about three minutes for the flares to burn and disperse the seeding agents.
As the seeding agent is introduced into the cloud, it initiates the formation of ice crystals or raindrops. The droplets get bigger until the clouds can’t hold them anymore, and they fall as raindrops.
The Agents for Seeding
Critics worry that governments using weather modification techniques are acting like they’re in control of nature, which they see as a problem.
However, during a visit to the NCM, General Director Abdulla Al Mandous emphasized that the technology is rooted in scientific principles.
Al Mandous clarified that Abu Dhabi’s program steers clear of silver iodide, a commonly used seeding agent in other countries, due to concerns over its potential environmental and public health impacts. Despite criticisms, some cloud seeding studies have found no substantial evidence of toxicity at current levels.
The NCM said again that they promise to only use natural salts and avoid using any bad chemicals in what they do.
Al Mandous revealed that the center made its own seeding stuff called nanomaterial. It’s salt with titanium oxide on it, which they say works better than what they use now.
“It will be three times better than the flares,” he said.
They’re testing the nanomaterial in different weather in the UAE and the U.S. to see how well it works.
