Chaos ensued in the United Arab Emirates after the country witnessed the heaviest rainfall in 75 years, with some areas recording more than 250 mm of precipitation in fewer than 24 hours, the state’s media office said in a statement Wednesday.

The rainfall, which flooded streets, uprooted palm trees and shattered building facades, has never been seen in the Middle Eastern nation since records began in 1949. In the popular tourist destination Dubai, flights were canceled, traffic came to a halt and schools closed.

One-hundred millimeters (nearly 4 inches) of rain fell over the course of just 12 hours on Tuesday, according to weather observations at the airport – around what Dubai usually records in an entire year, according to United Nations data.

The rain fell so heavily and so quickly that some motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles as the floodwater rose and roads turned into rivers.

  • demonsword@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    You are arguing that oil is necessarily a substantial backbone of Western civilization by claiming that it would have been extracted from the area no matter what and will continue to be so in perpetuity. Neither of those things are facts. They are pure guesswork on your part.

    No, I’m arguing that oil is currently a substantial backbone of Western civilization. And yes, it would have been extracted from the area no matter what, because if people native to the region refused, some imperalist country would simply bomb those natives or replace their leaders with ones more pliabe to said imperalist demands. It won’t of course go on forever because petroleum is a finite resource and when it runs out the UAE will become a unwanted desert wasteland ignored by all except for those still living there.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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      8 months ago

      Again, this is what you said:

      And, well, it will keep being exploited until civilization falls,

      That is not about the current situation, is it?

      And oil is only discovered where people explore for it. You cannot guarantee people would have explored for it there.

      • demonsword@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        And, well, it will keep being exploited until civilization falls,

        That is not about the current situation, is it?

        Do you seriously believe that there will be any different outcome while we are all still living under capitalism?

        You cannot guarantee people would have explored for it there.

        Again, under capitalism, it makes absolutely no sense not exploiting a natural resource you spent money prospecting for.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          8 months ago

          Do you seriously believe that there will be any different outcome while we are all still living under capitalism?

          I do not claim to predict the future.

          Again, under capitalism, it makes absolutely no sense not exploiting a natural resource you spent money prospecting for.

          And again, there is no guarantee that was where prospecting would have happened. You are assuming it necessarily would have happened there. There is no reason to make such an assumption.

          • demonsword@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Sorry, but right now you’re just grasping at straws. But if you have to win the argument no matter what, go ahead and claim to have bested/disproved/refuted me, I don’t want to argue this further. Have a nice day.