The heaviest rains in 75 years, which according to the scientific community represent an extraordinary phenomenon, leave shocking images of lakes in the middle of the hot streets of the capital of the United Arab Emirates and the international airport converted into a sea.
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The worst rains since the country began keeping records in 1949.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) experienced the heaviest rainfall in its history on Tuesday and the images speak for themselves: cars floating in lakes that used to be streets and planes surrounded by a temporary sea that used to be called Dubai-Al Maktoum International Airport.
It took less than 24 hours for the sky to confirm “an exceptional event in the UAE's climate history“said the country's National Center of Meteorology (CNM), whose peak was recorded in the emirate of Al Ain, with 254 mm of rain.
In another emirate, Ras al Khaimahthe Police reported on the death of a septuagenarian whose vehicle was swept away by heavy rains while traveling through a valley in this desert region of the country.
The images of Dubai's roads, completely flooded, went around the world. Even so, and despite the destruction, the CNM assured that Heavy rains “contribute to increasing the average annual rainfall in the UAEas well as strengthening the country's groundwater reserves.”
Dubai International Airport, the second busiest in the world, was turning into a sea.
“Due to the unprecedented weather conditions in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai International Airport (DXB) is experiencing major disruptions“the facility's managing entity, Dubai Airports, said in a statement.
Likewise, Dubai Airports stated that its teams continue to work uninterruptedly to restore airport operations 'as quickly as possible' and also to “provide support to travelers.”
These travelers are not only those who are at the airport, but also those who must arrive from the city, which is currently collapsed and whose roads are flooded.
According to the Airports Council International, Dubai International Airport was the second busiest in the world in 2023, with a total of 87 million passengers and only behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, in the United States.
Climate crisis and “cloud seeding”
The rains also intensified in other countries in the region, such as Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. At least 19 people have died in Oman due to floodsthe vast majority of them children.
The rains in the UAE, however, echoed more. The scientific community is clear about this: the increase in global temperatures, caused by climate changeis leading to more extreme weather events.
But there is also another possible explanation for this week's events. The UAE also frequently conducts “cloud seeding” operations to increase rainfall in a country historically in need of water, as is normal in a desert. A meteorologist from the National Meteorological Center denied that cloud seeding operations had been carried out recently, according to 'The National''.
But The AP agency reports that “several reports cite meteorologists from the National Meteorological Center who claim to have made six or seven cloud seeding flights before the rains. “Flight tracking data analyzed showed that a plane affiliated with the UAE’s cloud seeding efforts flew around the country on Monday.”
'Bloomberg' also previously quoted the agency as saying that seven cloud seeding operations had been carried out in the days before the storm, but was clear in pointing out the disaster: “Blame climate change, not 'cloud seeding'”.
According to AP, “the center did not respond to questions” asked by the outlet on Wednesday.
“Cloud seeding” is a practice in which small government-operated planes fly through the clouds burning salt flares specials. These flares can increase precipitation.
With EFE, Reuters, AP and local media
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