Dubai’s government is paying scientists to make it rain – after the city experienced scorching 50C temperatures.
In an attempt to tackle the extreme weather conditions and to increase rainfall from the UAE’s shocking average of four inches per year, officials have turned to the helping hand of innovative technology to make this possible.
In 2017, the UAE invested a whopping $15 million in nine rain-making projects to create artificial rain. University of Reading researcher, Professor Maarten Ambaum, worked on the fascinating project – he explained how the project’s aim was to merge water droplets through electric pulses. “When the drops merge and are big enough, they will fall as rain”, he told the BBC.
Using the power of drones, the enhanced rain “unleashes electrical charges into clouds in order for them to clump together and form precipitation.”
In short, the drones zap clouds with electricity which will force water droplets to fall as rain. This way, no chemicals are necessary and it is said to be more environmentally friendly.
In recent videos that are circulating online, Dubai is an unexpected sight. The city is being battered with torrential rain through cloud seeding efforts – so much so – it’s creating hazardous driving conditions.
The drones’ success has even prompted yellow weather warnings in parts of the country where the new tech has been piloted.
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