Dubai rains with drones to fight heat wave | Abroad

With mother nature not cooperating, Dubai has come up with its own way to create rain. The city in the United Arab Emirates deploys new drone technology that ‘electrocutes’ clouds to produce rain. The electrocution causes the “clouds to clump together and thus form precipitation,” says British professor Maarten Ambaum, who worked on the project.

Other, older, methods of artificially dropping rain make use of polluting chemicals. This is not necessary with the new method that has been used in Dubai.

The drones are successful. During a heat wave that has gripped Dubai for days, the drones have caused a heavy rain shower.

The United Arab Emirates spent some €12.6 million on nine different rain-generating projects in the country, which is among the top 10 driest countries in the world.

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