{"id":12661,"date":"2025-09-13T07:50:34","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T11:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=12661"},"modified":"2026-06-29T10:16:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:16:31","slug":"neoms-new-discovery-puts-world-on-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/neoms-new-discovery-puts-world-on-edge\/12661\/","title":{"rendered":"NEOM&#8217;s $500 billion city faces 6 to 12 month delay over fears it could alter global weather patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the desert country of Saudi Arabia, where you can find great sand seas, you can find a young population that values traditional attire and a strong cultural tradition of storytelling and poetry recitation. Saudi Arabia has also become<strong> known for its unique and futuristic project, NEOM<\/strong>, which has been applauded for its commitment to sustainability. Now, a new discovery has been made that puts the world on the edge of its seat, and total global disruption may be next in line if no one responds.<\/p>\n<h2>This is why Saudi Arabia wants to build this strange city<\/h2>\n<p>In 2021, the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, launched a very unique and futuristic project called NEOM. The project will be situated at the Red Sea&#8217;s northern tip in the Tabuk Province in northwest Saudi Arabia. The project comprises the planning and construction of a sustainable city.<\/p>\n<p>According to the project&#8217;s official website, the city will be powered by 100% renewable energy and will prioritize mankind and nature by generating a new model for sustainable living, working, and prospering. The project is led by the Public Investment Fund, which, along with local and international investors, has invested $500 billion in these distinct regions, which will feature the following sectors:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>energy<\/li>\n<li>water<\/li>\n<li>tourism<\/li>\n<li>biotech<\/li>\n<li>design and construction<\/li>\n<li>education, research, innovation<\/li>\n<li>entertainment and culture<\/li>\n<li>food<\/li>\n<li>health and wellbeing<\/li>\n<li>media<\/li>\n<li>mobility<\/li>\n<li>sport<\/li>\n<li>financial services<\/li>\n<li>technology and digital<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, what makes this project so unique is that the city will be <strong>constructed in a 170km straight line<\/strong>, with all the buildings covered in <a href=\"https:\/\/lampoonmagazine.com\/article\/2025\/03\/24\/the-line-city-project-saudi-arabia-neom-sustainable-architecture-critics-dystopian-future\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mirrored facades to minimize their impact<\/a> on the surrounding environment. The line design, according to Forbes, will maximize land use, promote efficient high-speed rail travel, and make the environment car-free. While The Line city sounds promising, a new NEOM discovery puts the world on edge.<\/p>\n<h2>A new NEOM discovery puts the world on edge<\/h2>\n<p>According to the Financial Times, the project will reportedly be <strong>delayed by six to twelve months<\/strong> after a discovery was made of the project&#8217;s potential impact. An acting chief executive placed the project under review, while Saudi Arabia faces low oil prices, decreased foreign investment, and wide-ranging development. The delay is necessary, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/could-create-a-disruption-on-neom\/7855\/\">the discovery could potentially disrupt the Earth.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to Donald Wuebbles, a University of Illinois atmospheric physics and chemistry professor and NEOM paid adviser, he raised concerns about the project&#8217;s Line city, ski fields, and islands&#8217; impacts on local environments and weather systems, and he raised them more than once. The issue had recently been escalated to a &#8220;higher priority.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>The next problem could be global disruption<\/h2>\n<p>Wuebbles added that the devastating impacts could result in global disruption, as they could <strong>alter rain patterns and amplify wind and storms<\/strong> in the desert region. According to research, the city shapes and typical increased temperatures could change surrounding air currents and cloud formations. Researchers from institutions such as Princeton indicated in a study that urban areas have intensified summer storms.<\/p>\n<p>Some of Wuebbles&#8217; other concerns included the cement usage emissions and the slow transition away from traditional vehicles and machinery. NEOM developers argued that they use a binder in concrete with decreased embodied carbon, a committed decarbonisation team, and localised building material construction.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue that the project faces is that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/neom-wont-produce-just-hydrogen-%e2%80%95-12m\/6996\/\">NEOM will be producing more than just hydrogen<\/a>, as toxic energy is also a result. While the overall concept of integrating advanced, renewable technology, human well-being, and nature is noble, <strong>this megaproject is the first of its kind<\/strong>. Careful planning, constant research, evaluations, and investment must be of top priority to ensure that this megaproject remains sustainable in order for Saudi Arabia to achieve its climate targets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the desert country of Saudi Arabia, where you can find great sand seas, you can find a young population that values traditional attire and a strong cultural tradition of storytelling and poetry recitation. Saudi Arabia has also become known for its unique and futuristic project, NEOM, which has been applauded for its commitment to &#8230; <a title=\"NEOM&#8217;s $500 billion city faces 6 to 12 month delay over fears it could alter global weather patterns\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/neoms-new-discovery-puts-world-on-edge\/12661\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about NEOM&#8217;s $500 billion city faces 6 to 12 month delay over fears it could alter global weather patterns\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":12662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"NEOM,impact","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"A new NEOM discovery has been made that puts the world on the edge of its seat, and total global disruption may be next in line if no one responds.","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}