(MENAFN) The United Arab Emirates has adopted cloud seeding as a strategy to combat its ongoing water scarcity, according to a local research leader.

This process is an expensive endeavor, with the UAE allocating millions of dollars annually to increase its freshwater reserves.

Aircraft are deployed into promising clouds to disperse salt particles, encouraging rainfall in a nation that receives under 100mm of precipitation each year.

The approach is considered a key part of the country’s “adaptation strategy to face climate change,” Alya Al Mazrouei, head of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP), told a media outlet on Monday.

Despite its potential benefits, the method has raised concerns. Critics caution that it may worsen extreme weather phenomena, such as floods and droughts, by interfering with natural atmospheric processes.

There are also worries about the environmental effects of the chemicals involved and possible unforeseen repercussions of deliberately altering weather patterns.

Orestes Morfin, a senior specialist at the Climate and Water Initiative in Arizona, informed the media outlet that “cloud seeding is seen as an additional potential tool for boosting water supply.”

Research conducted by the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology in 2023 estimated that cloud seeding could generate as much as 419 million cubic meters of usable water annually.

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