Climate change, adaptive planning and flooding in Dubai

Image: Wikipedia

Today’s JEDI moment took us to the streets of Dubai, which experienced the heaviest rain in its records between April 14 and 15. We discussed the speculation on cloud-seeding as a probable cause of the excessive rain. Dubai’s adaptive plan drew some attention for its focus on international cooperation. We wondered what the logistics of flood management such as flood walls or Green Stormwater Infrastructure would be in a place like Dubai, which typically experiences little to no rain. Mentions of Dubai’s shadow economy loomed over the discussion as we pondered the equity implications of the current situation. More broadly, we were interested in the impacts of geoengineering on local climates, and wondered how the effects of cloud-seeding could be analyzed to establish causality when data is scarce.