Other recent conspiracy theories that have dominated social media have been directed towards FEMA, a long-standing target of anti-government narratives. Some have falsely claimed that the agency was intentionally withholding relief to punish Trump-supporting enclaves, or that the organization had spent all its money on the border and foreign wars.
Those conspiracy theories, parroted by Donald Trump and other high-profile Republicans, have muddied the zone and hampered relief efforts. “The GREAT people of North Carolina are being stood up by Harris and Biden, who are giving almost all of the FEMA money to Illegal Migrants,” Trump wrote in one of many posts shared to Truth Social.
Over the weekend, the White House put out a memo titled “Fighting Hurricane Helene Falsehoods with Facts,” debunking some dominant narratives about FEMA’s relief efforts—stating that, for example, no money had been diverted from disaster response needs towards the border.
“Disinformation of this kind can discourage people from seeking critical assistance when they need it most,” the memo said. “It is paramount that every leader, whatever their political beliefs, stops spreading this poison.”
This hasn’t stopped other accounts online from weighing in as well. Private equity manager Grant Cardone, who holds a yellow ticked “verified organization” account on X, claimed that he’d never seen a hurricane follow a path like the one Milton was on. (Readers added context, noting that while it’s an uncommon track, it has been seen at least six times in the Gulf of Mexico since 1851). “Do you think Gov’t is using technology to manipulate weather patterns & storms?” Cardone asked in a post that’s been viewed over 5 million times.
“Cloud seeding or manipulating the weather is real,” wrote a user on X in a post that’s been viewed 180,000 times. “Kills Americans, catastrophic events JUST BEFORE AN ELECTION. Voting becomes impossible for many. October surprise??”
Experts tell WIRED that there is absolutely no truth to any of these claims that the hurricanes could be engineered by scientists.
Joshua Horton, senior program fellow studying solar geoengineering at Harvard University, says he’s worked in the field of geoengineering for 15 years and had never once encountered lasers being used. Horton noted that in the 1960s, there were attempts to use weather modification to steer hurricanes away from coasts. In perhaps 30 years, he says, solar engineering research may have advanced to the point where scientists could know how to reduce the severity of hurricanes. One theory that’s being explored is whether shooting seaspray into low-lying marine clouds to make them more reflective over areas in the ocean where it gets very hot could potentially reduce the severity of hurricanes. But at this stage, that’s still “totally speculative,” says Horton.
“Scientists cannot control the weather in the ways that MTG is claiming,” says Leah Aronowsky, an assistant professor of climate at Columbia University’s Climate School.
Aronowsky says that the field of geoengineering, which involves intervening in the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and soils to mitigate the effects of climate change, is controversial and worthy of some “real conversations.” But it’s also a field frequently targeted by conspiracy theorists, who envision nefarious actors using emerging complex technology for political means.
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