Scientists all over the world are working on ways to help combat the enemies of a healthy earth, air, and water before it’s too late and there’s no going back.

This most recent idea and experiment, in which Pakistan tried to use artificial rain to cut through smog, was something of a mixed success.

Pakistan’s capital, Lahore, has been experiencing extremely hazardous air quality levels – so much so that schools, markets, and parks around the city have all been shut down.

The government decided to try sending up a small Cessna plane armed with a table salt solution. They sprayed it over existing cloud patches to produce rain over the city.

Though this did cause the local air quality index to drop from 300 to 189, environmentalist Bilal Akzal said it’s not a permanent solution.

The effects only lasted a couple of days, then the air quality index returned to its previous (astronomical) levels.

Other countries have experimented with temporarily controlling the weather.

China successfully cleared the skies of Beijing to reduce pollution during the Communist Party’s centennial celebration in 2021, using a silver iodide solution.

The United Arab Emirates tried making it rain by sending drones to fling electricity into the clouds.

Despite the fact that all of these successes have been short-lived, Afzal remains optimistic.

“If we can clean our air at the cost of fuel for one small plane, the exercise would be well worth it.”

That said, the plane gives off it’s own exhaust, equal to running three cars for around four hours.

Given that this is a fairly new tactic, environmentalists are not in agreement on whether or not it should be explored further.

They posit it could actually worsen the situation by drying out the atmosphere and making room for more smog.

I have a feeling the experiments will continue as long as there is no consensus.

So I guess we’re all just living in a Marvel movie now.

If you think that’s interesting, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.