How Zapping Clouds Became Mainstream
Cloud seeding: The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Growing up in Dubai, it was common to see people celebrating when we received rain since it only showed up two or three times a year in the ‘winter’. Even today, the highest annual average rainfall total in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is less than 4 inches (~10 centimetres). As a young child, I never cared about the lack of rainfall because I had no clue how essential rain was to our survival, especially in a country with one of the highest per capita water consumption rates globally.
In 2010, I was packing up for university in the US, which was the first time I heard about cloud seeding in the UAE.
It was yet another unforgivingly hot summer in Dubai, and I spent most of it lounging around with my friends to make the most of our time before we all split up for college adventures across the globe. That summer, rain fell in Al Ain, a city in the east of the country known for its palm groves and hot springs. At this time of year in the UAE, it is blisteringly hot, with temperatures regularly reaching almost 50 degrees Celsius. Summer showers are so rare that people discussed the weather unironically, especially since rumour had it that the rain was artificial. This got my…
