Is Climate Manipulation to Blame for Dubai’s Historic Flooding?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Dubai received over a year’s worth of rain in 12 hours on Tuesday, sparking conflicting media reports that cloud seeding may be partially to blame for the ensuing floods.
For Context: Per Wikipedia, cloud seeding is “a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation.” Dubai received roughly 4 inches of rain on Tuesday, and various sources report the city’s yearly rainfall to be between 3 and 4 inches on average.
Recent Seeding: Bloomberg (Lean Left bias) claimed cloud seeding worsened the flooding, and reported on the United Arab Emirates’ cloud seeding operations that took place days before the rain. “The Gulf state’s National Center of Meteorology dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to take advantage of convective cloud formations, according to Ahmed Habib, a specialist meteorologist,” the outlet reported. The UAE has since denied this report, according to CNBC (Center bias).
‘A Stretch’: Amit Katwala of Wired (Center bias) referenced Bloomberg’s report and claimed “the truth is more complicated,” saying that while the UAE does run 300 cloud seeding operations a year, it’s “a stretch” to say seeding was responsible for the floods. Katwala cited seeding’s inability to affect rainfall that greatly, and the geography of where seeding operations take place as reasons why Dubai’s rainfall was likely not affected by operations.
How The Media Covered It: Media across the spectrum that covered the story referred to Bloomberg’s original report, which appears to have sparked most coverage.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Dubai Grinds to Standstill as Cloud Seeding Worsens Flooding
Torrential rains across the United Arab Emirates prompted flight cancellations, forced schools to shut and brought traffic to a standstill.
The heavy rains that caused widespread flooding across the desert nation came after cloud seeding. The UAE has been carrying out seeding operations since 2002 to address water security issues, even though the lack of drainage in many areas can trigger flooding.
The Gulf state’s National Center of Meteorology dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to take advantage of convective cloud formations, according to Ahmed...
From the Center
No, Dubai’s Floods Weren’t Caused By Cloud Seeding
Dubai is underwater. Heavy storms have caused flash flooding across the United Arab Emirates, leading to shocking scenes circulating on social media: Cars abandoned by the roadside, planes sloshing through flooded runways. Hundreds of flights have been canceled at Dubai’s busy international airport, and at least 18 people have died in neighboring Oman.
News reports and social media posts were quick to point the blame at cloud seeding. The UAE has a long-running program for trying to squeeze more rain out of the clouds that pass over the normally arid region—it has...
From the Right
Was Dubai's apocalyptic storm SELF-INFLICTED?
The United Arab Emirates is today attempting to dry out after the heaviest rain ever recorded in the desert nation caused utter chaos - but there are suspicions the horrific flooding in Dubai and elsewhere may have been self-inflicted.
The typically scorching UAE heavily relies on cloud-seeding - a technique which sees aircraft fire salt flares into clouds to speed up condensation and induce rainfall - to provide its groundwater.
Flight-tracking data analysed by the Associated Press showed one aircraft affiliated with the UAE's cloud-seeding efforts flew around the country on Sunday.
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