Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rain
The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
What happened
Heavy rain and flooding battered the Persian Gulf region late Monday and Tuesday, dousing Dubai with a year and a half's worth of rain, killing at least 18 people in Oman and prompting flight cancellations and school closures in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Who said what
"Recovery will take some time," said Dubai International Airport, the world's second busiest. It's "absolute carnage" at the airport, one couple said to The Associated Press. "There's people sleeping in the Metro station. There's people sleeping in the airport."
The commentary
"Rain is unusual in the UAE, an arid, Arabian Peninsula nation," the AP said, so "many roads and other areas lack drainage." Torrential rainfall events like this "will become more frequent due to human-driven climate change," CNN said. For every 1 degree rise in average temperature, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture, said the BBC, resulting in "more droplets and heavier rainfall, sometimes in a shorter space of time."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Another wave of heavy rain is forecast for Wednesday, and the UAE canceled school again and instituted remote work.
-
Corruption: The spy sheikh and the presidentFeature Trump is at the center of another scandal
-
Putin’s shadow warFeature The Kremlin is waging a campaign of sabotage and subversion against Ukraine’s allies in the West
-
Media: Why did Bezos gut ‘The Washington Post’?Feature Possibilities include to curry favor with Trump or to try to end financial losses
-
The plan to wall off the ‘Doomsday’ glacierUnder the Radar Massive barrier could ‘slow the rate of ice loss’ from Thwaites Glacier, whose total collapse would have devastating consequences
-
Can the UK take any more rain?Today’s Big Question An Atlantic jet stream is ‘stuck’ over British skies, leading to ‘biblical’ downpours and more than 40 consecutive days of rain in some areas
-
As temperatures rise, US incomes fallUnder the radar Elevated temperatures are capable of affecting the entire economy
-
The world is entering an ‘era of water bankruptcy’The explainer Water might soon be more valuable than gold
-
Climate change could lead to a reptile ‘sexpocalypse’Under the radar The gender gap has hit the animal kingdom
-
The former largest iceberg is turning blue. It’s a bad sign.Under the radar It is quickly melting away
-
Why the Middle East is obsessed with falconsUnder the Radar Popularity of the birds of prey has been ‘soaring’ despite doubts over the legality of sourcing and concerns for animal welfare
-
How drones detected a deadly threat to Arctic whalesUnder the radar Monitoring the sea in the air
