Did anyone watch the Ben Stiller/Jennifer Aniston classic: Along Came Polly recently? The universe totally eavesdropped on that basketball game scene between Stiller and his movie bestie Philip Seymour Hoffman but only took the “let it rain” part to heart? I’ve never seen so much rain in my life and I’ve lived in the United Kingdom a whole bunch.

Just when you think it’s moving on like a flock of birds migrating for the Winter, it just doubles back. Interestingly, a flock of birds is also sometimes referred to as a cloud. Gees Louise, imagine that! There’s also a whole lot of talk about cloud seeding because of how much rain we’re getting in our lovely Jozi and I didn’t have a clue what that meant. Did you? I’m not asking the proper geniuses out there and I’m not saying that’s what’s going on but I wanted to know more.

Cloud seeding. Yep, it sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s actually a real thing we’ve been doing since World War II. Also known as artificial rain, it’s a weather-modifying trick where we give clouds a little nudge to help them produce more rain (or snow). Pretty cool, right?

The idea is to boost rainfall in areas that really need it—especially places dealing with drought. More rain means happier crops, more drinking water, and even a hand in calming down extreme weather. For example, it can shrink hailstones to prevent damage or clear fog to keep airports running smoothly.

But that’s not all. Cloud seeding is also being explored as a way to tackle some of the effects of climate change. Think cooling down overheated cities or helping ecosystems survive during dry spells. So yes, it’s a pretty handy tool for managing water and dealing with weather gone wild.

That said, not everyone’s totally sold on it. While it’s becoming more common across the globe, cloud seeding has sparked its fair share of debate. Some people question how effective it really is, and others worry it might cause unintended consequences. As climate change becomes a bigger and hotter topic (literally), cloud seeding is under the spotlight. So the big question is: is it a clever fix—or are we messing with Mother Nature a little too much?

Oh, and here’s a sobering, scary and pretty heartbreaking fact from the UN: nearly 1.2 billion people live in places where water is already super scarce, and another 500 million are not far behind. So the pressure’s on to find fancy, clever solutions—and cloud seeding just might be part of the mix.

I didn’t even know this was a thing but we can actually make it rain. Mind blowing stuff. Who knows if it’s a good plan or a bad one. I certainly don’t but for now I’m wishing you safe travels on our roads which feel a little more like bizarre tv game challenges to get to the other side and harder to jump over the snails while avoiding the falling bricks these days. We may need to buy canoes and sail to work soon. Stay kind (dry and safe).

hangout

The Hangout: Raindrops keep falling on my head