[A photo shows a city flooded due to heavy rain, Photo Credit to Pixabay]

On April 16th, 2024, Dubai experienced extreme rainfall of a staggering 10 inches of rain recorded in just 24 hours when it usually rains 3.9 inches per year, and this was revealed to be the heaviest rain in at least 75 years.

Dubai is widely known for its desert climate where rainfall is rare as it is located on the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Consequently, there were many days when it did not have any rain or any heavy rainfall, further highlighting the erratic and extraordinary nature of the event.

As there was heavy rainfall, the largest deluge in UAE was made and this flooding could be observed even from satellites in space.

Landsat 9 satellite passed over the UAE and captured an image of large pools of floodwater lingering over the region.

Additionally, other vast areas of the ground also depicted light green, which meant the areas were damp, or deeply soaked, after the rainfall.

Areas such as the city of Abu Dhabi, being densely populated, were negatively affected with heavy flooding obstructing all kinds of people’s movements.

Hundreds of vehicles, including cars, trucks, buses, and other vehicles were stranded on the road as the heavy rain engulfed the vehicles, preventing them from further moving on roads.

Hundreds of inbound and outbound airlines have been canceled, which impacted thousands of travelers from traveling; as Abu Dhabi is one of the world’s busiest airports, lots of travelers have been adversely affected.

Furthermore, buildings and facilities were also deeply soaked by the rain where rain seeped between the ceilings, elevators no longer functioned, and several floors were deluged in rain.

Unfortunately, amidst the chaos, there was also a report of a 70-year-old man dying as the flood had swept him away while he was in his vehicle.

Despite the tireless efforts of emergency services who worked 24 hours in order to minimize the impact of the crisis on the city, they could not win against the natural disaster.

Despite people’s efforts to save the city, UAE was only a very urbanized city and it did not have any planned measures for natural disasters.

Some people pointed out that climate change is responsible for this heavy rainfall as warmer air tends to hold more moisture.

Scientists predicted that as the temperature rises, the warmer air retains more moisture, resulting in increased rainfall.

If humans continue to burn their oil, gas, and coal, the temperature will further increase as carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere, making the earth become hotter.

Additionally, some individuals also suggested cloud seeding, a process of manipulating existing clouds to help produce more rain, as one of the reasons why heavy rain fell in UAE.

It has been disclosed that aircraft have been dropping small particles of silver iodide into clouds as these water vapors condense and turn into rain, allowing more rain to fall in the UAE.

This method has been adopted by the UAE as they wish to address water shortages in the past.

However, with the occurrence of such extreme rain events, people claim that cloud seeding should not be conducted as the unusual event takes place and we, humans, are unable to predict and control the environment.

Dr Otto commented that this extreme event is not solely caused by cloud seeding, but also climate change.

Currently, it remains challenging to conclude the reason why this extreme event has taken place.