Can UAE's cloud seeding program solve its water woes?
The UAE has launched a decade-long cloud seeding initiative to increase rainfall in its arid regions. The process involves aircraft dispersing a fine white dust, made from sodium chloride and titanium oxide, into clouds. This dust attracts water molecules that form droplets, and eventually grow large enough to fall as rain due to gravity. However, scientists are uncertain about cloud seeding's reliability on a mass scale, as it cannot create new clouds but only extract more rain from existing ones.
Operations conducted from Abu Dhabi command center
The cloud seeding missions are managed from a command center located on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi. Pilot Mark Newman and his team are set to conduct hundreds of such missions this year. The UAE's Rain Enhancement Program, which has been funding global research into new technologies since 2015, is behind this initiative. The country receives around 5-7-inch of rain annually, roughly half the amount that falls on Nevada, USA's driest state.
A global response to climate change
Cloud seeding has been experimented with by over 50 countries since the 1940s, for various reasons including drought relief, refilling hydroelectric reservoirs, maintaining snowy ski slopes, and even as a weapon of war. The recent resurgence in interest is partly due to scientific advancements and the early impacts of climate change that arid countries are experiencing. Dry spells are becoming longer and more severe, leading to crop failures and forcing cities like Bogota and Cape Town to ration water.
A potential solution for environmental challenges
In recent times, cloud seeding has been proposed as a solution to air pollution in Pakistan, preventing forest fires in Indonesia, and refilling the drying Panama Canal. The UAE started its cloud-seeding program in the early 2000s, and has invested millions of dollars into it since then. However, scientists remain uncertain about the reliability of cloud seeding on a mass scale as it cannot create clouds from thin air; it can only extract more rain from existing clouds.
Cloud seeding and its implications for the future
The Rain Enhancement Program's stated goal is to ensure future generations have sufficient water for survival. The program's architects argue that "water security is an essential element of national security" and that their country is "leading the way" in "new technologies" and "resource conservation." However, questions remain about whether UAE is truly aiming to make the hotter, drier future more livable for everyone or trying to accrue more wealth and power by selling the dream of a cure.
