UAE considers creation of artificial rain-making mountain

The United Arab Emirates is considering the creation of an artificial mountain in order to increase its annual rainfall and alleviate the pressure of a looming water crisis.

In theory, the man made mountain would force air to rise, thus creating clouds that could be ‘seeded’ with minuscule particles to encourage the processes of condensation and precipitation. Cloud seeding, which is a weather modification process designed to increase the amount of rainfall produced from clouds, has a permanent unit at The National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) meteorological department, and can help to maximise UAE rainfall; NCAR is currently conducting detailed modelling studies, and $400,000 of funding has been made available for the scheme. Roelof Bruintjes, NCAR Scientist and Lead Researcher, told Arabian Business:

 “What we are looking at is basically evaluating the effects on weather through the type of mountain, how high it should be and how the slopes should be. We will have a report of the first phase this summer as an initial step.”

The specific location of the construction is yet to be determined as NCAR experts continue to test different sites across the UAE and, according to Bruintjes, if the project is deemed too expensive for the government, it will not proceed. The development comes following claims from researchers that the Gulf state could run out of groundwater within the next 14 years.

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