NEW DELHI: Many wondered whether it was cloud seeding – a weather modification technique to induce rains – that led to flooding of Dubai, but scientists involved in such projects in India categorically dismissed any link, and meteorologists and climatologists rather blamed climate change for the record precipitation in arid West Asia.
Since parched UAE periodically conducts cloud seeding to increase level of its dwindling groundwater, extreme rainfall between Monday night and Tuesday evening raised questions on the artificial rain mechanism.The country received a record 255 mm of rain in less than 24 hours, flooding Dubai.
Though it rained heavily in neighbouring Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as well, Dubai in UAE faced the maximum impact.
IIT Kanpur professor Sachchida Nand Tripathi, who is closely involved with the cloud seeding project in India said, there was no connection between cloud seeding and the floods in Dubai. “Seeding is tried at an early stage of storm development. In this case when the system progressed from the Gulf of Oman it was already an intensified storm. It is highly unlikely and unsafe to seed such systems. Seeding can at max contribute to 25% enhancement in rainfall. In this case the total rainfall was 25 cm. So even without seeding 20 cm of rainfall would have happened,” Tripathi told TOI.
Even distinguished climate scientist and former secretary in the ministry of earth science (MoES), Madhavan Rajeevan, dismissed the possibility of any link, saying cloud seeding cannot trigger such heavy rainfall and floods.
Asked about likely reasons, he said, “This is absolutely a clear signal of climate change. It was a huge thunderstorm caused by a synoptic system which was moving across the Gulf region. With global warming there is now a tendency that if it rains, it rains very heavily. We should expect this kind of events more frequently in any part of the world and at any time.”
Former chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD), K J Ramesh, too believed that cloud seeding was not the primary cause for the downpour. “Western disturbance-triggered extreme rainfall event development is the primary cause of the floods in the region,”he said.
On its link with climate change, Ramesh said, “It is well known that any rain bearing system will become stronger under changing climate – global warming regime as warming enables atmospheric clouds to hold extra moisture and grow bigger and bigger leading to enhanced intensity of rain bearing systems.”
Elaborating on the weather phenomena, he said, “Southward extension of passing westerly wave trough, supported by additional moisture feed from Arabian Sea, basically caused extreme weather events, causing unprecedented quantum of rainfall over not only UAE but also over Oman, north Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar.
“Prior to this, a similar westerly wave gave heavy rainfall spells for two days over Afghanistan, leading to floods, thunderstorms and lightning over Pakistan”.
On the UAE’s cloud seeding project, Ramesh said the country through its Rainfall Enhancing Experiment, launched in 2002, has been trying to carry out aircraft based cloud seeding as and when rain bearing weather systems develop over the surrounding regions. “Through such efforts, the cloud seeding team was able to enhance the quantum of rainfall up to 15% over and above the rainfall otherwise occurring any way naturally.”
Since parched UAE periodically conducts cloud seeding to increase level of its dwindling groundwater, extreme rainfall between Monday night and Tuesday evening raised questions on the artificial rain mechanism.The country received a record 255 mm of rain in less than 24 hours, flooding Dubai.
Though it rained heavily in neighbouring Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as well, Dubai in UAE faced the maximum impact.
IIT Kanpur professor Sachchida Nand Tripathi, who is closely involved with the cloud seeding project in India said, there was no connection between cloud seeding and the floods in Dubai. “Seeding is tried at an early stage of storm development. In this case when the system progressed from the Gulf of Oman it was already an intensified storm. It is highly unlikely and unsafe to seed such systems. Seeding can at max contribute to 25% enhancement in rainfall. In this case the total rainfall was 25 cm. So even without seeding 20 cm of rainfall would have happened,” Tripathi told TOI.
Even distinguished climate scientist and former secretary in the ministry of earth science (MoES), Madhavan Rajeevan, dismissed the possibility of any link, saying cloud seeding cannot trigger such heavy rainfall and floods.
Asked about likely reasons, he said, “This is absolutely a clear signal of climate change. It was a huge thunderstorm caused by a synoptic system which was moving across the Gulf region. With global warming there is now a tendency that if it rains, it rains very heavily. We should expect this kind of events more frequently in any part of the world and at any time.”
Former chief of India Meteorological Department (IMD), K J Ramesh, too believed that cloud seeding was not the primary cause for the downpour. “Western disturbance-triggered extreme rainfall event development is the primary cause of the floods in the region,”he said.
On its link with climate change, Ramesh said, “It is well known that any rain bearing system will become stronger under changing climate – global warming regime as warming enables atmospheric clouds to hold extra moisture and grow bigger and bigger leading to enhanced intensity of rain bearing systems.”
Elaborating on the weather phenomena, he said, “Southward extension of passing westerly wave trough, supported by additional moisture feed from Arabian Sea, basically caused extreme weather events, causing unprecedented quantum of rainfall over not only UAE but also over Oman, north Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar.
“Prior to this, a similar westerly wave gave heavy rainfall spells for two days over Afghanistan, leading to floods, thunderstorms and lightning over Pakistan”.
On the UAE’s cloud seeding project, Ramesh said the country through its Rainfall Enhancing Experiment, launched in 2002, has been trying to carry out aircraft based cloud seeding as and when rain bearing weather systems develop over the surrounding regions. “Through such efforts, the cloud seeding team was able to enhance the quantum of rainfall up to 15% over and above the rainfall otherwise occurring any way naturally.”
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