The 2024 Persian Gulf floods were severe rain storms in the countries around the Persian Gulf, killing 19, in April of 2024. An UAE meteorologist responsible for the country’s “cloud seeding” program early on claimed it was the work of geoengineering, and artificially “created”. Government spokespersons later hurriedly denied that any weather manipulation had taken place.
Official narrative
Starting early April, thunderstorms, flash floods and heavy rain fall was suddenly reported in slow moving clusters around the Persian Gulf. By, April 18, they had killed 19. Wikipedia was quick to add “Some commentators have linked the unusual weather to climate change. The region has been hit by heat waves and cyclones in recent years.”[1] Mary Gilbert and Brandon Miller of CNN quickly made an article mentioning “Like the rest of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai has a hot and dry climate. As such, rainfall is infrequent and in many areas there is limited infrastructure such as drainage to handle extreme events. CNN later continued “torrential rainfall events like this will become more frequent due to human-driven climate change.”[2]
Concerns
The UAE government developed a research program called the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP) in 2015, developed after several development programs starting early 2001, the UAEREP was conducting research projects in cooperation with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in the U.S., the Witwatersrand University in South Africa and NASA. Quickly after Dubai became almost entirely flooded in places, even local western media began suggesting some kind of geoengineering to have taken place, due to the unusual clouds seen above Dubai that day. Normally cloud seeding only enhanced rainfall by 30-40% in the UAE’s cloud seeding program, raising questions what went wrong.[3][4] The program is noted to “start the cloud seeding in the mountains of Oman”, perhaps explaining why that and other neighboring countries were also affected.
Cloud Seeding?
According to certain media sources, the National Centre of Meteorology of the United Arab Emirates may have enhanced the storm system’s rainfall through cloud seeding operations. Additionally, the region’s high dust content may have served as a natural cloud seeder. Chemicals like silver iodide are used in cloud seeding operations to create ice crystals, which serve as nuclei for water vapor to settle around and form clouds that carry rain. Such activities have also reportedly been employed in the past by the UAE to increase rainfall in the dry region. These have generated debate in other places. [5] Jeff Barardelli, chief meteorologist and climate specialist with WFLA-TV based in Tampa Bay, Florida, suggesting cloud seeding may have “enhanced” a regular rain cloud on Twitter.[6]
Official Admission
Bloomberg News reported that the UAEs state’s National Center of Meteorology or MCM dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday to take advantage of convective cloud formations, according to Ahmed Habib, a specialist meteorologist. The NCM on Wednesday said the seeding had taken place on Sunday and Monday, and not on Tuesday. Cloud seeding involves implanting chemicals and tiny particles — often natural salts such as potassium chloride — into the atmosphere to coax more rain from clouds. Dubai’s media office on Tuesday dubbed the downpours “rains of goodness,” despite flooded houses and overflowing swimming pools. The latest storms followed heavy rains earlier this year, according to Habib at NCM. The seeding planes have flown seven missions, he added. “For any cloud that’s suitable over the UAE you make the operation,” he said.[7]
Subsequent Denial
Omar Al Yazeedi, deputy director general of the NCM, said the agency “did not conduct any seeding operations during this event” one day later to NBC.[8]
Source: https://wikispooks.com/wiki/2024_Persian_Gulf_floods
