Conspiracy theorists attribute Dubai’s record six inches of rain in a single day on Tuesday to cloud seeding. That’s about twice as much rainfall as the parched cities of the United Arab Emirates fall in a year.
In some places, up to 10 centimeters of rain fell and the country has not witnessed such a heavy downpour in 75 years. For comparison, that’s equivalent to how much rainfall Hurricane Katrina dropped on the areas it hit the hardest.
A storm in the United Arab Emirates has damaged buildings, flooded streets, and disrupted flights through the world’s busiest international airport. At least one person lost their life during the intense downpour in the UAE. At least 19 people lost their lives in Oman, which experienced floods of comparable magnitude.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, videos of the storm and its aftermath made the rounds on social media. One user even shared a video of rain pouring down the ceiling of a hotel bar.
However, because the storm was unusual, several conspiracists proposed hypotheses suggesting that it was man-made.
One user X commented, “They left the cloud seeder on too long,” referring to the weather modification method used by the UAE government to address the country’s water shortage.
The UAE Meteorological Office confirmed that the practice – which is regularly the target of several conspiracy theories – did not occur during Tuesday’s storm. In addition, WIRED reports that UAE operations are located far outside populated areas such as Dubai and have the potential to increase annual rainfall by no more than 25%.
The workings of the UAE have been widely known for decades, and the use of cloud seeding technology itself is not a conspiracy. However, there are still many unfounded rumors about how the method is used in countries other than the UAE.
For example, one member of British X speculated before Tuesday’s storm that “the government is forcing unnatural amounts of rain on us to destroy British agriculture”, adding, “Control the food, control the people”.
Currently, there is little to stop rumors of the potential consequences of cloud seeding, especially in light of the recent flooding.
One user asked: “Are they being punished by the West using geoengineering to create these storms?”
Others have offered a theological justification for the storm’s possible occurrence.
“Cloud seeding and interacting with the environment. Trying to turn the desert into a green landscape,” one account said. “It is one of the signs of the Day of Judgment that the Prophet Muhammad mentioned, that the Middle East will become green as it once was in the past.”
Many people believed that the rain was a sign from God criticizing the UAE’s stance towards Israel in this religious environment.
“The reason is quite clear, it is a punishment from God that they betrayed the Palestinian children,” said one individual.Â
The unprecedented storm that hit Dubai, resulting in record rainfall and significant flooding, has sparked a wave of conspiracy theories blaming cloud seeding for the deluge. While some have suggested that the UAE’s weather modification efforts were responsible for the intense rainfall, official sources and experts have rejected these claims.
Cloud seeding operations in the UAE are conducted far from urban areas and are unlikely to contribute significantly to the storm. Despite the explanations provided by the authorities, speculation and conspiracy theories continue to abound, with some attributing the storm to geopolitical tensions or religious interpretations. As the situation develops, it highlights the need for clear communication and understanding of weather modification technologies and their limitations.