United Arab Emirates is Making its Own Fake Rain to Beat 44C Heat
upstart writes:
United Arab Emirates is making its own fake rain to beat 44C heat:
The United Arab Emirates, parched from heatwaves and an arid climate, is testing new technology to zap clouds with electricity to artificially create rain.
Similar forms of cloud seeding have existing for decades. But the process has typically used salt flairs and has come with concerns about the environment, expenses and effectiveness, according to the Desert Research Institute and CNN.
So the UAE is now testing a new method that has drones fly into clouds to give them an electric shock to trigger rain production, the BBC and CNN have previously reported.
The project is getting renewed interest after the UAE's National Center of Meteorology recently published a series of videos on Instagram of heavy rain in parts of the country. Water gushed past trees, and cars drove on rain-soaked roads. The videos were accompanied by radar images of clouds tagged "#cloudseeding."
The Independent reports recent rain is part of the drone cloud seeding project.
[...] Water security remains one of the UAE's "main future challenges" as the country relies on groundwater for two-thirds of its water needs, according to the National Center of Meteorology website. The arid nation faces low rainfall level, high temperatures and high evaporation rates of surface water, the center says. Paired with increased demand due to high population growth, this puts the UAE in a precarious water security situation, according to the center.
But rain enhancement may "offer a viable, cost-effective supplement to existing water supplies," especially amid diminishing water resources across the globe, the center said.
"While most of us take free water for granted, we must remember that it is a precious and finite resource," according to the center.
[...] So far, rain enhancement projects have centered on the country's mountainous north-east regions, where cumulus clouds gather in the summer, according to the National Center of Meteorology website.
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