As the world gets warmer due to climate change, some countries are looking for ways to keep it cooler. The National Center of Meteorology in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is using drone technology to shoot laser beams at clouds to create rainfall. Electrifying the clouds charges them up to create bigger raindrops and more rain overall. The country’s official weather service posted two videos on its Instagram showing the technology in use.
Photo: Draw/Shutterstock
Watch: Dubai Is so Hot It’s Using Laser-Beam-Shooting Drones to Encourage Rainfall
In June, Dubai reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit, and the country averages four inches of rainfall per year. Critics of the technology worry about unintentional flooding and privatization of the technology. The UAE spent $15 million on nine projects encouraging rain over rain for the last few years, according to Forbes. In March, the country searched to test the project and then collaborated with the University of Reading in the UK, according to the BBC.
Other countries using this technology for rainfall solutions include the United States. In 1923, the US began using cloud seeding, which uses crushed-up silver iodide to create water clusters in the air. Most recently, on July 13, 2021, Death Valley, California, recorded the Earth’s hottest temperature record since 2017, at 128 degrees. 