Unlike in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and China, cloud-seeding efforts to boost rainfall in the US remain minimal, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
Cloud seeding often involves shooting salt or other small materials into clouds to try to generate extra rain. The new report, issued to the US House Committee on science, space and technology, said the process could help mitigate drought challenges from climate change. However, it warned that the country's fragmented approach, combined with inconclusive international data leave ample room for improvement before cloud-seeding is hailed as a silver bullet solution.
According to the Government Accountability Office research, cloud seeding is mostly funded at a local level, with nine US states – California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming – having active programmes.
However, the research also pointed out that Tennessee passed a law in 2024 prohibiting cloud seeding, and nine other states had similar bills being considered.
“Federal agencies have provided little direct support for cloud-seeding activities or research since the early 2000s,” the GAO said. According to the World Meteorological Organisation, at least 50 counties had active weather modification programmes with various cloud-seeding efforts, it added.
Yet despite the ambitious global efforts to increase water supplies and bolster agriculture, the GAO warned that it was difficult to estimate cloud-seeding effectiveness.
“In some studies we reviewed … the estimated effect was not distinguishable from zero with a high degree of statistical confidence,” the GAO said. It also pointed out that it is one thing to increase rainfall, but it is another to do something productive with that rain.
“Additional uncertainty exists regarding the extent to which cloud seeding can ultimately improve usable water supplies. Even if baseline and additional precipitation are accurately estimated, the amount of precipitation that is lost to evapotranspiration is uncertain because of variations in climate, land surface, and vegetation coverage,” the report continued. Evapotranspiration is the process by which water moves from the land to the atmosphere, through evaporation from the soil and transpiration through plant leaves and stems.
A key challenge facing a more comprehensive US cloud-seeding plan, the GAO explained, was the limited window in which seeding operations could be successfully conducted. “Operations can only enhance precipitation when the right kind of clouds are present, which limits opportunities for success … The natural variability of cloud processes adds further uncertainty to the task of selecting clouds to target.”
The report said the US would need to allocate more resources to get a better idea about cloud seeding's potential effectiveness. It also noted that India in recent years had begun to experiment with the process in the hope that increased rain could help to reduce air pollution. China probably has one of the most comprehensive weather modification programmes, which includes cloud-seeding research.
The GAO also mentioned the UAE and Saudi Arabia for having prominent cloud-seeding programmes. In 2023, the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment told The National that the country’s rain enhancement programme had conducted 311 cloud-seeding missions in the previous year, clocking up close to 1,000 flying hours. That marked a significant increase on the 177 flights conducted in 2016.
The UAE has also been prolific in providing grants for rain enhancement projects. Experts from the National Centre of Meteorology have said seeding could enhance rainfall by about 30 per cent in a clean atmosphere or by 15 per cent in a dusty atmosphere, but acknowledged the complexities and the need for more research.
The science behind rain enhancement and cloud seeding has piqued plenty of interest, though some accounts have proved fanciful. In October, meteorology experts debunked a theory circulating among some US conservatives that Hurricane Milton in Florida had been created by the government. Even US President Joe Biden came forward to call the claim “beyond ridiculous.”
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Tamkeen's offering
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Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
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Company profile
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Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
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Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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match info
Chelsea 2
Willian (13'), Ross Barkley (64')
Liverpool 0
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
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Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
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Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
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Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
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Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
