Meteorologist warns of 'weather wars' between countries after Dubai floods were blamed on 'cloud seeding' - with 'catastrophic' consequences

A meteorologist has warned of looming 'weather wars' between countries if 'cloud seeding' gets out of hand - after flooding in Dubai spawned concerns about artificially manipulating the rainfall.

Johan Jaques, a senior meteorologist at environmental technology company KISTERS, warned there could be 'unintended consequences' to using the relatively young technology, potentially leading to 'diplomatic instability'.

'Anytime we interfere with natural precipitation patterns, we set off a chain of events that we have little control over,' he said.

'Interference with the weather also raises all kinds of ethical questions, as changing the weather in one country could lead to perhaps unintended yet catastrophic impacts in another, after all, the weather does not recognise intentional borders.'

Extreme weather, and concerns about climate change and possible manipulation, have received attention in recent days with abrupt flooding in Dubai causing widespread disruption and damage to infrastructure.

The United Arab Emirates this week suffered horrendous floods which swamped the airport and many of the surrounding roads, forcing dozens of flights to be cancelled as travellers crammed into the concourse to shelter from the torrential downpour.

Videos shared on social media showed how cars were filled with water, forcing hundreds of motorists to abandon their vehicles and swim to safety.

The damage to the region was brought on by abrupt torrential rain, with more than 142mm falling on Dubai in just 24 hours - as much as the city would usually expect to see in a year.

The freak weather shift sparked concerns about cloud seeding, a process used since the 1940s by which planes equipped with specialised flares release salt into clouds to encourage rainfall.

While officials have denied the role of cloud seeding in this week's floods, the UAE has used cloud-seeding to prompt rainfall since the 1990s.

Mr Jaques said that intense precipitation brought on by cloud seeding could lead to 'excess flow, with potential flash floods as a result', as reported by Newsweek.

'The Dubai floods act as a stark warning of the unintended consequences we can unleash when we use such technology to alter the weather,' he said.

'Additionally, we have little control over the aftermath of cloud seeding. Where exactly is it going to be raining effectively? 

'Using techniques such as cloud seeding to bring much-needed rainfall in one area can cause flash floods and droughts in another.'

'Anytime we interfere with natural precipitation patterns, we set off a chain of events that we have little control over,' he added.

Ahmed Habib, a meteorologist at the UAE's National Centre for Meteorology (NCM), told Bloomberg several cloud-seeding sorties were flown in the days before the unprecedented rainfall hit.

Speculation about the use of cloud seeding later caused the NCM to deny the operation had taken place on Tuesday in the hours before the storm - but said it was performed on Sunday and Monday. 

Maarten Ambaum, a professor of atmospheric physics and dynamics at the University of Reading, suggested that while cloud seeding could be used to create rain, 'you would not normally develop a very severe storm out of that'.

'In the 50s and 60s, people still thought about using cloud seeding to produce these big weather events, or change these big weather events. 

'This [has] long been recognised as just not a realistic possibility.'

Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading, said: 'The UAE does do operational cloud seeding, but there is huge difference between what this can achieve – targeting individual, developing clouds with seeding material released from an aircraft – and the Dubai rainfall, which was associated with a large weather system advancing across the region.' 

Experts also note the likely impact of climate change in bringing on the intense weather patterns in the UAE.

Dim Coumou, a professor in climate extremes at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told Reuters: 'Rainfall from thunderstorms, like the ones seen in UAE in recent days, sees a particular strong increase with warming. 

'This is because convection, which is the strong updraft in thunderstorms, strengthens in a warmer world.'

The rains in Dubai began late on Monday, soaking the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 0.79 inches of rain, according to meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport.

The storms intensified at around 9am local time on Tuesday and continued throughout the day, dumping more rain and hail onto the overwhelmed city.

By the end of Tuesday, more than 5.59 inches of rainfall had soaked Dubai over 24 hours.

An average year sees 3.73 inches of rain at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel and a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates.

Authorities cancelled school and the government instituted a work from home policy as the clean up operation continues.