Abstract
The United Arab Emirates leads the Arabian Peninsula in the implementation of rain-enhancement techniques in a region increasingly challenged by water scarcity. Although cloud seeding is an ancient field of study, it is still poorly understood and controlled, leaving numerous questions unanswered. What are the benefits and limits of these techniques, especially regarding their militarization? To what extent does the state have a right to water contained in the clouds? This article explores the new electrical shock method of cloud seeding of the United Arab Emirates, which compensates for the limitations of older methods, and questions the international regulation of environmental modifications techniques.
By Marine Krauzman
As one of the driest and warmest countries in the world, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) faces a water crisis accelerated by human activities and climate change. Indeed, the scarcity of water resources and the aridity of the landscape challenge agriculture and has pushed the government to invest in innovative technologies to meet the growing water demand. Among others, the state launched a global research initiative funding several rain-enhancement projects in 2015. It places the UAE among the first countries in the Arab Gulf to use cloud seeding technologies. Today, the state carries out more than 200 cloud seeding flights yearly, with nearly 250 operations in 2019 [1]. This increasing practise raises legal concerns regarding the principles of ownership over the environment and its militarization.
Cloud Seeding Techniques
Cloud seeding methods offer a sustainable alternative to desalination, which is the most common technique to secure freshwater availability worldwide. Removing salt from seawater is a costly process, requiring a significant amount of power and increasing the UAE’s overall energy footprint. Furthermore, desalination, which results in discharging a highly salinated water by-product back into the sea, negatively affects marine life [2]. For these reasons, the UAE National Centre of Meteorology has been researching alternative rain-enhancement techniques.
In July 2021, the centre released a video showing heavy rainfalls and claimed the development of an effective new technique. This method involves sending drones into clouds to deliver a series of electric shocks. These shocks encourage small droplets to collide and condense into heavier droplets, eventually forming rain. While it is still too early to assess the actual effectiveness of the electric shock technique, the National Center for Meteorology’s July video does look promising [3]. And, unlike mainstream cloud seeding techniques which have hitherto utilized silver iodide, the new method does not require any potentially harmful chemical agents. Indeed, the impact of silver iodide operations on public health and the natural environment remains under-examined, especially given their potential to soil critical ecosystems with iodine poisoning [4]. Despite the apparent benefits of this new electrical shock technique, in 2010, the University of Tel Aviv, for example, claimed that cloud seeding methods have a limited overall impact on total rainfall volume [5]. In reality, the practise of cloud seeding operations is interestingly and most usually conducted on clouds that already show signs of rainfall. And, even if cloud seeding is effective, the resultant precipitation may fall over an unintended location, in the end, making it difficult to assess whether or not such operations are ultimately worthwhile.
A Feeble Regulation
Although their actual effectiveness remains in question, rain-enhancement practices nonetheless pose a few legal concerns and call for regulation. The first contested question concerns the state’s rights to water contained in clouds. Can a state modify the trajectory of clouds or induce rain when it was meant to fall in another country? Does this violate the customary international law principle of no-harm [6]? If clouds are considered res communis, (owned by everyone as with space or the high seas), states would not be able to claim ownership. However, if clouds are considered res nullis (owned by no one yet), it is possible for a state to claim ownership over the water and conduct cloud seeding projects. International law should define a clear jurisdictional status for water in clouds to grasp its temporary and unstable characteristics and the implications of new technologies. While waiting for this, it is the responsibility of every state not to cause harm to others by making a well-thought use of weather modification techniques.
The second central concern is the potential utilization of these weather modification techniques for military purposes. A critical example is Operation POPEYE in the Vietnam War, during which the American military carried out cloud seeding operations in an attempt to flood and disrupt Vietnamese military supply routes. In employing the silver iodide technique, the American military hoped to induce heavy rainfalls which would cut off bridges and cause landslides. While it is still debated whether or not their operations were ultimately harmful, legislation on this matter is, regardless, nearly non-existent [7]. Indeed, the only international legal framework is the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD), which only regulates climate modification technologies for hostile purposes. But, the ENMOD leaves plenty of room for states to research and develop such techniques as there is little oversight and no monitoring mechanism. Furthermore, it is difficult to determine whether artificially induced precipitation can be attributed the marker “hostile purpose” given its similarity with natural rain. Given that the UAE and other countries are expanding cloud technologies, it is becoming increasingly important that more explicit legal parameters are defined for the appropriate use of climate modification technologies to maintain peaceful inter-state relations and protect judicial certainty.
Conclusion
The control of rain remains a primary challenge for the Arabian Peninsula, which remains arid and under fertile. Given its recent advancements in cloud seeding technology, the UAE today prevails as the region’s leader in rain-enhancement projects. While Emirati researchers strive to develop other rain-enhancement solutions outside of cloud-seeding to satisfy the growing water demand, the government has also sought to reduce this problematic growing demand with a system of subsidies for farmers who can effectively reduce their water consumption (often through practices like vertical farming) [8]. As for other countries, the UAE is followed in its efforts by the Saudi government, which recently approved a national cloud seeding programme. While countries like Qatar have yet to establish any similar projects, the 2022 World Football Cup may accelerate research efforts for the country as the event should welcome over 60,000 visitors in the middle of the hottest season [9]. Whatever the future of cloud seeding is, the challenge now is to properly monitor these practices to guarantee their peaceful use.
References
[1] Almansoori, H & Badran, A (2020). ‘Cloud Seeding In The UAE’, Abu Dhabi University
[2] Scott, K (2019) ‘Can the Middle East solve its water problem?’ CNN, 22nd March
[3] National Center of Meteorology, @NCMS_media (2021) “ Wadi Tuwa #Ras_Al-Khaimah is currently #National_Centre_of_Meteorology #Rain_AlKhair #Friends_National_Centre_Meteorology #Weather_state #weather_condition #weather_amateur” Twitter, 17 Juy 2021, https://twitter.com/NCMS_media/status/1416236861471690758
[4] NSW Wilderness Red Index (1999) ‘Jagungal’ [online] available from https://web.archive.org/web/20090912023409/http://www.colongwilderness.org.au/RedIndex/NSW/Jagu99.htm, accessed on 28 July 2021
[5] American Friends of Tel Aviv University (2010) ‘Cloud seeding not effective at producing rain as once thought, new research shows.’ ScienceDaily, 1rst November
[6] United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992) ‘Agenda 21, Rio Declaration, Forest Principles’ [New York]: United Nations.
[7] Mustermann, E (2015) ‘Weather Manipulation during Vietnam War’. War History Online (blog), 22 March, available from https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/weather-manipulation-during-vietnam-war.html
[8] Szabo, S. (2011). ‘The Water Challenge in the UAE’, Dubai Schools of Government, Policy Brief n.29, 1st ed, pp. 2-6
[9] Quick, D. (2011) ‘Man-Made “clouds” to Shade 2022 World Cup in Qatar?’, New Atlas, 28th March
