Cloud seeding has had little to do with Dubai's stunning floods. We know this because it is not that effective

Geoengineering projects are viewed by many with skepticism. On the one hand, by those who believe that they are of little use, that human beings do not have the capacity to influence on a planetary scale; on the other hand, by those who believe that these projects can get out of the hands of those who carry them out.

Unlikely. The recent floods in Dubai have made many wonder if this second group might be right. However, the consensus among experts it's notcloud seeding is not behind these floods.

A little context. For years, the Dubai Emirate has been experimenting with the technique known as cloud seeding (cloud seeding). This technique is based on the fact that often, to initiate the process of water condensation in clouds that leads to precipitation, gaseous H2O molecules need some particle to attach to.

The technique consists of providing these in the form of silver iodide particles. Thus, the water vapor in the clouds condenses until it falls to the ground. This is a technique that countries have also experimented with.

In recent days, Dubai has suffered the consequences of particularly intense rains. In some areas of the emirate registered in 24 hours the average rainfall throughout the year. This has led to speculation about the role of seeding in this episode, something that experts have been quick to deny.

The problem with planting. The main argument for rejecting the hypothesis that cloud seeding has been responsible for the Dubai floods is that, quite simply, this methodology is not that effective. This system can be useful to generate rain in certain contexts but does not work miracles.

How this tool is used must also be taken into account. Rain seeding is useful when clouds carry water but not enough for it to fall on its own. The storm front responsible had been predicted by meteorologists and It was known that it was going to generate rain. Planting water drops in a system already predisposed to precipitation would result in an unnecessary waste of resources.

Another argument to take into account is that the storms that flooded Dubai affected many other places in the north of the Arabian Peninsula. In Oman alone the rains left 19 dead according to the latest data. Episodes of heavy rain and flooding are also not uncommon in the region; last year, for example, floods caused a new humanitarian catastrophe further south in Yemen.

So what caused the flooding? Everything seems to indicate therefore that the floods in Dubai have responded to a natural phenomenon. Some fingers have also pointed to climate change, although determining whether a specific extreme event is caused by this phenomenon is difficult if not impossible.

What we do know is that increasing temperatures in the atmosphere can favor these types of extreme episodes. The key is the fact that hot air can “carry” more humidity. The greater the humidity transported in the atmosphere, the greater the discharges in the form of precipitation.

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