More than 200 cloud seeding operations were carried out in the UAE during the first half of this year.
On Monday, the National Centre of Meteorology said a team of pilots and technicians used 4,841 flares, and 419 ground generator flares, during the flights
Since January, it has completed 219 operations.
“NCM’s cloud seeding operations demonstrate the importance placed by the UAE on providing sustainable water resources through encouraging research and innovation in water-related technologies," NCM said in a statement.
Seeding exercises work by creating rainfall from existing cloud formations.
By producing rain artificially, it helps top-up the country’s water resources, which are among one of the scarcest in the world.
Using a network of radars and weather stations that monitor the country’s atmosphere around-the-clock, local experts analyse data on clouds to determine if they are suitable for seeding or not.
Seedability is evaluated by analysing data from at least 150 cumulus clouds.
Once data is collected, dedicated aircraft fitted with special flares are then used to fire salt crystals into convective clouds that have an updraft, hence creating rain.
Global droughts have become more commonplace in recent decades due to climate change.
The UAE receives an average of less than 100 millimetres of annual rainfall, leading officials to embrace cloud-seeding as a viable way to bolster those numbers.
Dr Abdulla Al Mandous, director of NCM, said the centre was the “forerunner in adopting rain enhancement technologies” in the region.
“Our state-of-the-art infrastructure, coupled with excellent research and development capabilities, have helped the programme cement its prominent position in cloud seeding research,” he said.
“[We] attract top global scientists and research institutions specialised in this important scientific domain.
“Emirates Weather Enhancement Factory has also allowed the centre to produce high-quality flares to use in its cloud seeding operations."
The excess rainfall in the country brought about by cloud seeding over the past few years has had a positive effect on the country’s agricultural industry by impacting crop yield, while dams across the Emirates have benefited too.
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
