Snow making in the desert and rain making in Thailand by Rob McElwee
If you are searching for some late season snow, Dubai is probably not top of your list. However, soon residents of the city will be able to experience some Alpine charm in 50 Celsius, 120 Fahrenheit, heat.
A faux mountainside playground, Ski Dubai, is currently being constructed in the United Arab Emirates. Once the 23 massive air conditioners and snow making jets are turned on, the concrete mountain will be covered in 70 centimetres of powdery snow. When complete, Ski Dubai will be the third largest indoor ski resorts, and the only one in the middle of a desert.
The United Arab Emirates is one of the world’s hottest places, and few residents have seen snow or even experienced cold weather. We will have to wait and see if the cold adverse locals can be converted in to fun loving skiers of the future.
Technology is also being use to counter nature in Thailand where an extensive programme of cloud seeding has helped to ease the toughest drought in seven years. Cloud seeding is a technique used to increase rainfall when clouds are already present. Chemicals are sprayed into clouds to encourage smaller clouds to merge and induce rain. The cocktail causes tiny vapour droplets to join together, the water then freezes into snow which melts as it falls.
As Thailand’s drought pinches, the air force, police and navy have loaned the agricultural ministry additional planes. The rain making bureau has 600 staff and a budget of around 25 million dollars. Like other countries in South East Asia, Thailand receives a lot of rain, the problem is that is doesn’t fall evenly across the country and this causes a cycle of flooding and drought.
Thailand’s latest cloud seeding programme started on 15th March. It has enhanced natural rainfall and already helped to ease the current drought. Neighbouring Cambodia has been encouraged by the results and asked Bangkok for cloud seeding help. However experts are expressing caution as no cloud seeding method can succeed without suitable clouds and in periods of extreme drought there is not much that can be done to increase rainfall.
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