Dubai is planning to build the world's first domed city that is fully climate-controlled, similar to concepts seen in science fiction. Developers are also building replicas of European cities on artificial islands near Dubai, and plan to use machines to generate real snow that will fall and stick to the ground in outdoor areas, despite Dubai's hot desert climate. This will be achieved through an underground cooling system that recycles melted snowwater to create new snow and maintain cooler outdoor temperatures. While Dubai's summer heat may make sustained snowfall difficult, developers insist that German engineering will allow their system to produce snow outdoors while using no more energy than a typical shopping mall's climate control.

1. INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE TUXTEPEC
DIPLOMADO DE INGLES LEVEL 4
Snow Falling on Sand, Dubai's New Winter
Wonderland
The rate at which science fiction is becoming science fact is starting to get a little
spooky.
Leaders of the wealthy Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai announced this week that they will
soon start construction of the planet’s first domed city. The concept of a fully enclosed,
climate-controlled city — sometimes called an arcology — has been a recurring theme
in science fiction for more than 100 years.
No place is moving more quickly than Dubai, home of the World Islands offshore tourist
archipelago, where replicas of various global locales are being built on artificial islands.
One of those island clusters, The Heart of Europe, aims to recreate European locales
including Vienna, Rome, Andalusia, Cote d’Azur, Monaco, Germany, Sweden,
Switzerland and St. Petersburg. To add to the ambiance, developers are even planning to
provide snow — real snow, outdoors, in the hot desert sun.
Well, real snow in this instance means snow generated from machines — ski-resort
style. But the plan is to create an outdoor climate-controlled environment where snow
will fall on the faux-European streets and stick around on the ground, at least for a
while.
The German-designed climate control system will use a network of underground cooling
pipes so that the falling snow doesn’t immediately melt as soon as it lands. The same
system will also recycle the melt water to create new snow.

2. INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE TUXTEPEC
DIPLOMADO DE INGLES LEVEL 4
Alert readers will note that Dubai might be a difficult place to sustain snowfall. Average
temperature in the summer is 96 degrees Fahrenheit. In January, it’s 66 degrees.
Still, the real estate developers of the Kleindienst Group insist it can be done. In a
promotional video with the website 7 Days in Dubai – featuring the Dubai snowman
pictured above – CEO Josef Kleindienst says the technology has been in use for several
years, but never implemented in a fully outdoor setting.
The groups also claims the system uses no more energy than a typical shopping mall
climate control system. “We are aiming for a green building certificate, for the highest
rating possible in Dubai,” says Kleindienst in the video. Skepticism seems warranted,
but then again, German engineering is notoriously formidable.