Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
rainmaking
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images & Videos
What is cloud seeding and can it be used to fight climate change?
Lotuxo rainmakers.
Quizzes
Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree
Facts You Should Know: Weather Quiz
Umbrella colored like a rainbow sticking out above a sea of black umbrellas while it rains. (storm, weather)
Weather Words Vocabulary Quiz
Iceland, Glacier lagoon (Jokulsarlon)
Winter Weather Words Quiz
Related Questions
Read Next
Flower. Fruit tree. Cherry. Cherry tree. Cherry blossom. Spring. Close-up of cherry blossoms in bloom.
The Perils of an Early Spring
Earth from space. Full-hemisphere views of the Earth showing Hurricane Linda at its peak approaching Baja California on 1997 September 11.
What Is Earth’s Velocity?
Lightning over the outskirts of Oradea, Rom., during the thunderstorm of August 17, 2005.
16 Questions About Earth’s Atmsophere and Weather Answered
Solar system illustration. (planets; sun)
Why Are Planets Round?
Lightning over a farm field. Weather electricity thunderstorm light energy tree
Can Lightning Strike the Same Place Twice?
Discover
Orange basketball on black background and with low key lighting. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
The 10 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time
Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company
Periods of American Literature
bird. mourning dove. pigeon and dove. Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) family Columbidae.
Nikola Tesla's Weird Obsession with Pigeons
In this aerial photo, structures are damaged and destroyed October 15, 2005 in Balakot, Pakistan. It is estimated that 90% of the city of Balakot was leveled by the earthquake. The death toll in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Pakistan on October 8, 2005 is believed to be 38,000 with at least 1,300 more dead in Indian Kashmir. SEE CONTENT NOTES.
6 of the World’s Deadliest Natural Disasters
Odissi Indian classical female dancer on white background. (Indian dancer; classical dancer; Indian dance)
6 Classical Dances of India
Shah Jahan. Taj Mahal. Mughal architecture. Emperor Shah Jahan fifth Mughal Emperor (reigned 1628-1658) India, Himachal Pradesh, Basohli or Jammu and Kashmir, Mankot, circa 1690 Drawings; Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper (see notes)
6 Important Mughal Emperors
January 21, 2019: Superbowl LIII will be played at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, February 3, 2019 against the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.
What Was the Super Bowl’s First Blockbuster Commercial?

rainmaking

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/topic/rainmaking
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Article History
What is cloud seeding and can it be used to fight climate change?
What is cloud seeding and can it be used to fight climate change?Cloud seeding can produce an extra 5 to 15 percent of precipitation over the course of a season.
See all videos for this article

rainmaking, any process of increasing the amount of precipitation discharged from a cloud. Primitive methods, such as rain dances or the throwing of pebbles into water, fail to produce rain. However, modern techniques of cloud seeding, such as efforts to coax precipitation from supercooled clouds (clouds containing liquid water droplets at temperatures below 0 °C [32 °F]) with frozen carbon dioxide or silver iodide, as well as from warmer clouds (clouds containing liquid water droplets at temperatures above 0 °C) with calcium chloride, offer some possibility of increasing rainfall amounts.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.