INCREASING RAIN IN THE DESERT: three continents come new ways of
solving an old problem Scientists believe it may be possible to
increase rainfall in arid areas. (Photo by Digital Vision/Getty
Because of a population boom in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
government leaders are facing a fundamental challenge: keeping
up with demand for water. The mostly desert country, which has
grown from about 50,000 residents in 1975 to more than 3 million
today, relies on desalination plants and underground aquifers.
But desalination is very costly, and the aquifers are quickly
becoming depleted. In the past few years, the UAE has begun to
explore an innovative solution. What if modern technology could
produce more rain? Scientists at NCAR, the UAE Department of
Water Resource Studies, University of the Witwatersrand in South
Africa, and elsewhere are analyzing the potential for cloud
seeding. They hope to find storm clouds that can be induced to
release rain over regions where the water would most benefit
society by fal