Cloud seeding is helping to clear the air in the UAE, according to researchers who analysed pollution levels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
In a recent study, scientists wrote that natural dust storms are a source of the particulate matter in the air.
They also found that dust contained heavy metals, such as lead, at concentrations that could be harmful, and highlighted the likelihood that human activity causes such contamination.
The outcome of their two-year study into atmospheric dust and sand in the UAE were released in the journal Environmental Pollution.
Lead author Dr Yehya Elsayed, of the Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at the American University of Sharjah, said the government provided “generous annual funding” for cloud seeding in recent years, which may have improved air quality.
“As a result, the UAE has witnessed rainfall from cloud seeing projects that caused precipitation of the suspended particulates and a drop in dust and total suspended particulates levels,” he said.
“This enhanced the visibility, as witnessed during winter seasons.”
Cloud seeding in the UAE dates back more than two decades and is now undertaken regularly and the National Centre of Meteorology said in July that 219 operations took place in the first six months of 2020. Flares, carried up by aircraft, release salt particles around which water droplets condense and fall as rain.
Cloud seeding is used to promote rain and replenish the UAE’s groundwater reserves, rather than to reduce pollution.
With most parts of the country receiving less than 100 millimetres of rain a year, water extraction for agriculture, industry and domestic use is said to deplete reserves by 5mm per year.
In their recent paper, Dr Elsayed and his co-authors, including his AUS colleague Dr Sofian Kanan, recorded particulate matter concentrations at sites near Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports in 2016 and 2017 and found levels peaked between June and August.
Concentrations of PM with a diameter of up to 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5), which are considered dangerous, were typically between 50 and 100 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3), but during mild storms could reach 350 to 400 µg/m3. The US Environmental Protection Agency recommends average PM2.5 levels should not exceed 12 µg/m3.
Particulate matter up to 10 micrometres (PM10) was recorded at concentration between 100 to 250 µg/m3 on most days, but during storms could reach 750 µg/m3. The EPA recommends levels should not exceed 150 µg/m3 more than once a year.
Dust was found to be contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, contamination the authors said poses “a health risk given the dust exposure is continuous during summer seasons”. Lung cancer and cardiovascular disease are among the serious health conditions the scientists said the particles could cause.
“The presence of toxic metals in these fine particles may have dual destructive effect on human health associated with particle size and toxicity of the inhaled toxic metals,” Dr Elsayed said.
They also said metals in the dust may harm aircraft, citing previous studies indicating they caused deposits inside jet engines and could block holes for cooling and lead to corrosion. But they forecast pollution levels would fall.
“We expect further reduction in the human contribution to pollution, especially with the shifting to nuclear power plants and electric cars, stricter regulations on car and industrial emissions, and advanced engine designs and cleaner fuel specifications,” Dr Kanan said.
Overall levels of particulate matter fluctuate from year to year, with the researchers finding that 2017 had less than 2016.
But separate research published in November by Dr Abdelgadir Abuelgasim, of UAE University in Al Ain, and Dr Ashraf Farahat, of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia, found that pollution levels went up between 2017 and 2018, probably because the number of storms increased.
The size of particles indicated that within Abu Dhabi emirate, air pollution was “primarily driven by natural processes related to local and cross-boundary dust storms” rather than human activity. But they also blamed “excessive use of domestic cooling” for releasing PM.
When analysing Environment Agency Abu Dhabi data recorded at monitoring stations across Abu Dhabi emirate, they found elevated PM levels in July and August, tying in with the AUS study.
"PM levels began to decrease by late September and usually reach their lowest levels by December," the scientists wrote in Earth Systems and Environment.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
more from Janine di Giovanni
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETamer%20Ruggli%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadine%20Labaki%2C%20Fanny%20Ardant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Kibsons%20Cares
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERecycling%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fstrong%3EAny%20time%20you%20receive%20a%20Kibsons%20order%2C%20you%20can%20return%20your%20cardboard%20box%20to%20the%20drivers.%20They%E2%80%99ll%20be%20happy%20to%20take%20it%20off%20your%20hands%20and%20ensure%20it%20gets%20reused%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EKind%20to%20health%20and%20planet%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESolar%20%E2%80%93%2025-50%25%20of%20electricity%20saved%3Cbr%3EWater%20%E2%80%93%2075%25%20of%20water%20reused%3Cbr%3EBiofuel%20%E2%80%93%20Kibsons%20fleet%20to%20get%2020%25%20more%20mileage%20per%20litre%20with%20biofuel%20additives%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESustainable%20grocery%20shopping%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ENo%20antibiotics%3Cbr%3ENo%20added%20hormones%3Cbr%3ENo%20GMO%3Cbr%3ENo%20preservatives%3Cbr%3EMSG%20free%3Cbr%3E100%25%20natural%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
How to donate
Text the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
6025 - Dh 20
2252 - Dh 50
2208 - Dh 100
6020 - Dh 200
*numbers work for both Etisalat and du
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
