In Surah Al-Hijr (15:22), the Quran declares: "And We have sent the fertilizing winds and sent down water from the sky and given you drink from it."
The Arabic term "lawaqih" (fertilizing) is remarkably precise. Winds indeed play a double fertilization role:
First, winds fertilize clouds by transporting evaporated water particles and promoting their condensation into droplets. Winds also carry condensation nuclei (sea salt particles, dust) necessary for the formation of raindrops.
Second, winds play an essential role in plant pollination. Many plant species depend on wind to transport their pollen from one flower to another (anemophilous plants). This is a plant fertilization process essential to the reproduction of many crops.
Modern meteorology has confirmed that winds play a crucial role in the water cycle by transporting water vapor from the oceans to the continents, where it condenses and falls as rain.
Professor Keith Moore, an embryologist, and other scientists have highlighted the precision of this term "fertilizing" which describes both the fertilization of clouds and that of plants.