Floods in Dubai - Proof of failure in combating global climate change

Days after historic rain, Dubai is still submerged in floods - a poignant example of how the world is losing the "sprint" race against climate change.

The floods in Dubai last week demonstrated that urban engineering is failing the grand test of climate change. In a world that is witnessing increasing extreme weather events, no matter how large and modern a city is, it is showing its defeat in the face of unprecedented floods.

The UAE's wealthy city and other similar metropolises were built on previously uninhabitable land. This achievement ironically reflects that 20th century urban development ideas have led to the "strangulation" of natural water absorption systems.

An ambulance was abandoned in flood waters after historic rains in Dubai. (Photo: Getty).

Population growth leads to more waste, which in turn requires more landfills and other waste disposal methods. This formula makes drainage a challenge for major global cities like Dubai. Especially when they will have to face more frequent and heavy rains.

On April 15-16, the UAE received more than 250 mm of rain in some places and nearly half of that in Dubai. That is equivalent to the average annual rainfall in the UAE. The more frequent rains in recent years in the UAE are expected to get even worse in the coming years, especially as daily rainfall increases.

There were claims last week that rain-seeding experiments the UAE is conducting have contributed to historic rain, but this information has been refuted by the country's authorities and many experts.

The desert city was not designed to drain during unusually heavy rains; In the photo, people are walking on the streets of Dubai on April 17. (Photo: Reuters)

It is important to know that Dubai is built on sand, a natural environment that allows water to seep into the soil very easily. But by building large amounts of concrete on top of the city's natural terrain, urban developers effectively prevent the land from absorbing water . Last week's rainfall was the heaviest recorded since the country began tracking data in 1949.

Architect Ana Arsky, CEO of environmental startup 4 Habitos Para Mudar o Mundo, was one of several climate experts interviewed by CNBC about Dubai last week . Natural waters deliver water directly to aquifers and then into water reserves. But after the asphalt roads were paved, they no longer existed ."

The population explosion associated with global urbanization trends has increased waste , and although trash doesn't end up on Dubai's streets, it has to be dumped somewhere - often in less-than-ideal locations. Plastic trash does not absorb water, and when it is dumped into landfills around the world, those huge piles of scrap contribute to clogging natural drainage systems.

Even older cities with reliable drainage systems are facing similar problems, as New Yorkers witnessed last fall when schools, roads and homes flooded flood, and public transportation stagnated after rainfall in a day reached from 125 mm to 200 mm.

New York was flooded with water and trash after the September 2023 flood. (Photo: Getty).

Tiago Marques, co-founder and CEO of Greenmetrics.AI said: ' Stormwater drainage systems do not respond to current climate change trends and extremely concentrated rainfall. Excess water eventually leads to urban flooding, even in tunnels, highways or the lowest locations in cities .

Marques noted that people tend to blame city officials when floods occur for not cleaning the drainage system properly, but in Porto, Portugal, there were severe floods in several areas. area last year even though the drainage system had been cleaned. He added: ' The amount of water was so high and unusual that it basically washed all the branches and even the trash into the previously clean drainage system and clogged them. When this amount of water starts to accumulate, it will be very difficult for the authorities to understand the situation everywhere at the same time ."

" Phenomena that used to happen every 100 years… started happening every 10 years. Then, floods that happened every 10 years now started happening every few years. Adapting to climate change The future requires us to develop more advanced technologies " - this CEO emphasized.

Seoul streets "turned into rivers" after the historic rain of 2022. (Photo: Reuters).

More frequent flooding in the world's most densely populated environments is a poignant reminder of the global challenge: No place is safe from the effects of climate change, Arsky concludes .