17 Oct How could cloud-seeding benefit Africa?

What is Cloud-Seeding?

The entire operation is currently built around 4 planes, each mounted with 24 salt flares.

20 minutes into the flight, the innovative salt flares are ignited – one on each wing of the low-flying planes, lasting between two and three minutes. Micro-salts are launched from the flares, serving as cloud condensation and ice nuclei, which stimulate microphysical processes within the cloud.

Essentially, the insertion and stimulation of dry ice into the atmosphere is what leads to rainfall.

The UAE leads in this groundbreaking technique, by using experimental technology to continue encouraging rainfall in clouds. Due to electric-charge emission instruments in rainclouds, and exciting air molecules from ground planes, a 6.9 millimetre rainstorm lasted in Al Ain between the 20th and 21st of July.

How could Cloud-Seeding benefit Africa?

Cloud-seeding is particularly effective in areas that are affected by drought – and could be a game changer for food security, with artificially induced rainfall allowing for much more food growth in an affected area.

The main goal of artificial rain-fall and cloud-seeding at the moment is to combat drought and break hot spells in a region, however, part of the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative involves the creation of artificial rainforests, through the generation of lakes as a result of large-scale rainfall. There is no reason this technology could not be applied to Africa, especially with the region poised to become a trade powerhouse around the world and currently building ties with the continent.

This means that Africa could incorporate artificial rainforests into their development plans for the region, creating food security in the region and allowing for a rejuvenated eco-system.