Dubai deluge brings home climate change dangers to a desert nation
Thick clouds fill the sky above the Burj Al-Arab tower in Dubai on May 2, 2024, as heavy rains returned to the United Arab Emirates just two weeks after record downpours that experts linked to climate change. Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
Visitors to Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates’ famous artificial ski slope last month found it dark and deserted. Even though the shopping centre itself was filled with the usual tourists, the silent snow dome suggested all was not well, after a deluge in the metropolis disrupted the power to chill the slope.
Several days after the United Arab Emirates was drenched by historically intense rainfall, many streets surrounding the pristine mall were covered by water.