The United Arab Emirates has been at the forefront of using artificial rain, or cloud seeding, as part of its strategy to address water scarcity. The country has invested heavily in this technology, aiming to enhance precipitation in its arid climate. However, a notable incident highlighted the risks associated with this approach.
In 2022, the UAE experienced severe flooding in several urban areas, including Sharjah and Fujairah, following cloud-seeding operations. The excessive rainfall overwhelmed infrastructure, causing chaos, property damage, and even displacing residents. The incident underscored the inherent unpredictability of weather modification, where the intensity and distribution of rainfall can spiral beyond control.
While cloud seeding holds promise as a supplementary water management tool, the UAE’s experience serves as a reminder that its use must be approached with caution. Accurate forecasting, robust urban planning, and contingency measures are essential to minimize the risks of such unintended outcomes.
How Does Artificial Rain Work?
As Delhi’s air quality deteriorates to ‘severe’ levels, with the Air Quality Index touching nearly 500 in some areas, the Delhi Government has sought the Centre’s approval for cloud seeding—a method to induce artificial rain to clear pollutants from the atmosphere.
But the question arises that will it help Delhi Combat Pollution?
Combating Delhi’s pollution with artificial rain is not straightforward. Factors like the availability of suitable clouds, wind patterns, and the sheer scale of pollution in the region make it a challenging process.
Cloud seeding is a process where meteorologists target moisture-rich clouds lacking precipitation conditions. Common seeding agents like silver iodide, dry ice, or potassium iodide are released into the clouds using planes equipped with dispensers.
Silver iodide mimics ice, aiding crystal formation, while dry ice cools surrounding air to create ice crystals. These particles act as nuclei for water droplets or ice to form, grow, and eventually fall as rain or snow when heavy enough.
The UAE has already experimented with this process, which resulted in excessive rainfall, causing chaos in urban areas and highlighting the challenges of controlling outcomes in artificial weather modification.
The key lesson learned is that while the technique shows potential, its unpredictability underscores the risks of relying solely on cloud seeding for water management.
United States, China, UAE, Russia, Australia, Thialand and Saudi Arabia are the other countries that have used cloud seeding.
