Dubai International Airport faced a temporary closure and numerous flight cancellations due to a historic storm that brought a significant amount of rainfall to the region. The UAE’s National Center of Meteorology reported that parts of the city of Al Ain received over 10 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, which is more than twice the usual amount of rainfall for an entire year. Data on such extreme weather events has only been collected since 1949, making it difficult to determine the last time such heavy rainfall occurred in the area.
The extreme rainfall event in the UAE aligns with two concerning trends – a long-term decline in annual rainfall in the region since the beginning of the century and an increase in severe weather anomalies such as flooding. Reports from 2022 indicated a decrease in annual rainfall in the UAE since 2003 compared to historical averages. Similar heavy rain incidents were also recorded in the UAE in 2016 and 2022, suggesting a trend of more frequent extreme weather events in the region and globally.
Recent extreme weather events have led to the emergence of a new field of science called “attribution,” which aims to determine the extent to which these events can be linked to climate change. It may take some time before experts can attribute these epic rains to the effects of climate change. The term “global weirding” has been used to describe unusual and extreme weather events like the heavy rainfall in the UAE, highlighting the unpredictable nature of climate change impacts on weather patterns.
The combination of global warming and the resulting “weirding” of weather patterns has led to a range of extreme events around the world, from hurricanes to wildfires. The occurrence of over a year’s worth of rain in a single day in one of the driest regions on Earth is a stark reminder of the impact of climate change on weather patterns. While rain is expected to continue in the area, it is predicted to taper off over the coming hours and days, allowing for a gradual return to normalcy in the region. The event serves as a reminder of the need for increased awareness and action to address the challenges posed by climate change and its effects on extreme weather events.
