How 'rain drones' in Dubai use electric shocks against clouds to trigger rain to battle extreme temperatures

lightning in dubai — Cloud seeding can increase low annual rainfall.
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Dubai has launched a project to cope with high temperatures.
The project is based on Dubai creating its own rain.
To do this, drones that discharge electrical charges are used.
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Fighting the heat isn't always easy but in places like the United Arab Emirates where temperatures can easily reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit at certain times of the year.

In the UAE - specifically in Dubai - scientists have started tackling high temperatures by creating their own rain.

Dubai is now using drones that fly towards the clouds and discharge electrical charges to produce rain, Vanguard reported.

The charges cause the clouds to gather together to produce rain.

The technique is called "cloud seeding," and is used to help increase low annual rainfall - and it seems to be working.

These cloud seeding efforts are part of an ongoing $15 million project by the United Arab Emirates to generate rainfall in the country.

The technology was created by experts at the University of Reading in the UK.

Professor Maarten Ambaum, who worked on the project, said the Emirates had enough clouds to create conditions that would allow rain.

"When the drops merge and are big enough, they will fall as rain" Professor Ambaum told the BBC, according to Vanguard.

The UAE is also looking at methods of preserving the rain that hits the ground, rather than allowing it to evaporate.

To this end, the country has about 130 dams and dikes with a storage capacity of 120 million cubic meters, according to the ministry.

NCMS executive director Abdulla al-Mandoos said studies were being prepared to plan more dams and protect water, with the aim of directing rain "from the cloud to the aquifer."

"We do not want to waste a drop of water," he added.

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