fertilization of clouds; Competition in the Middle East on another front

to report Science and Education Department of IRNAThe New York Times website of the American edition wrote in a report: With the drying of the Middle East and North Africa, the countries of this region have started a race to produce chemicals and apply techniques that they hope will be able to extract raindrops from barren clouds.

While rich countries like Emirates, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the cause, other countries are joining the race, trying to get their fair share of the rain before others dry up everywhere; However, there are serious questions about whether this method can produce enough rain to be worth the effort and expense.

Morocco And Ethiopia They also follow the cloud fertilization program. Saudi Arabia It has just started a program on a large scale, and dozens of other countries in the Middle East and North Africa They are looking into it.

china It has the largest program in the world and is trying to make clouds rain on the Yangtze River, which is drying up in some places.

In the early 1990s, the rulers of the United Arab Emirates realized that maintaining abundant water reserves was as important as the country’s large oil and gas reserves. While in 1960, when the population of this country was less than 100 thousand people, there was enough water to maintain the population of this small country. By 2020, the population of this country has increased to about 10 million people and the demand for water has also increased.

According to a research paper published in 2021, Residents of the UAE consume approximately 147 gallons per person per day, compared to a global average of 47 gallons per person.

Many scientists doubt the effectiveness of cloud fertilization and believe that this science has not yet been proven. One of the problems in their way is that after fertilization of the clouds, it is not possible to be sure whether these clouds will rain or not. Also, not all clouds are able to produce rain, and even a cloud that seems suitable for fertilization may not have the necessary moisture, or the clouds may produce snow instead of rain, or a cloud that has been fertilized for rain in the UAE may be affected by the wind. causing a storm in Boston.

In the summer of 2019, cloud fertilization caused heavy rain in Dubai, UAE. The intensity of the rain was so great that the city authorities had to remove the water from the residential areas and the luxurious shopping center of Dubai.

The fertility of the clouds began in 1947 AD (1325 AD); That is, when GE researchers, under a military contract, began their efforts to find a way to de-ice aircraft in cold weather and create fog to obscure troop movements.

Some of these techniques in Vietnam It was also used to prolong the monsoon season to make it more difficult for North Vietnam to supply power.