Marjorie Taylor Greene doubles down on weather control conspiracy theory despite experts rubbishing ‘hurricane modification’

Marjorie Taylor Greene has doubled down on her debunked declare that the federal government can management the climate simply as tens of millions of Floridians brace for Hurricane Milton.

The Republican from Georgia claimed final week that “they” can management the climate after Hurricane Helene killed greater than two dozen individuals in her state and greater than 230 throughout the US. Whereas she didn’t make clear who “they” was on the time, Joe Biden mentioned the thought the federal authorities managed the climate was “past ridiculous”.

“Sure they will management the climate,” she wrote on X final week. “It’s ridiculous for anybody to lie and say it will possibly’t be completed.”

Then, on Wednesday, Greene posted a follow-up to her preliminary declare to make clear: “Everybody retains asking, ‘who is that they?’”

“Properly a few of them are listed on NOAA, in addition to many of the methods climate will be modified…If your property or enterprise or property is broken or a liked one is killed by their climate modifications shouldn’t you be eligible for compensation?” Greene wrote.

Greene additionally connected screenshots of “climate modification venture stories” from the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web site.

These tasks embrace cloud seeding, a observe that has existed for practically a century. By cloud seeding, consultants can enhance a cloud’s capacity to supply rain or snow, in accordance with the Desert Analysis Institute. They will do that by introducing “ice nuclei” to sure forms of clouds utilizing planes or ground-based turbines.

Conspiracy theorists have pointed to cloud seeding all through the years as proof that the federal government can management main climate occasions. Nonetheless, cloud seeding can’t be used to create or modify hurricanes, NOAA defined. Moreover, there isn’t a climate modification method that will enable the federal government to create a hurricane.

Hugh Willoughby at Florida Worldwide College, who beforehand headed up NOAA’s Hurricane Analysis Division, mentioned hurricane modification shouldn’t be attainable.

“As a result of hurricanes are chemically easy – air and water vapor – introduction of catalysts is unpromising. The vitality concerned in atmospheric dynamics is primarily low-grade warmth vitality, however the quantity of it’s immense by way of human scales.”

That hasn’t stopped ‘climate management’ turning into one other right-wing speaking level on social media, usually by the identical individuals who deny local weather change exists.

Alex Jones, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who falsely claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook capturing was a hoax, amplified Greene’s false claims that the federal government can management the climate. “Backside line the federal authorities might have killed the storm within the Gulf of Mexico,” Jones wrote on X.

Greene additionally echoed the false conspiracy that the federal government is sending extreme climate to Republican-heavy areas, posting a map of the southeastern US that reveals political affiliation by county in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Helene.

“This can be a map of hurricane affected areas with an overlay of electoral map by political celebration reveals how hurricane devastation might have an effect on the election,” Greene wrote on October 3. The Impartial has contacted Greene for remark.

These aren’t the one conspiracy theories making the rounds within the wake of Hurricane Helene.

On-line, rumors have unfold that the federal government “geoengineered” Hurricane Helene to grab management of lithium deposits in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, which was devastated by the storm.

Congressman Chuck Edwards, who represents Chimney Rock’s district, even needed to launch a press release debunking the declare.

“Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the federal government to grab and entry lithium deposits in Chimney Rock,” Edwards wrote in a press release on Tuesday.

“No person can management the climate. Charles Konrad, director of the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Regional Local weather Heart, has confirmed that nobody has the expertise or capacity to geoengineer a hurricane.”

“Present geoengineering expertise can function a large-scale intervention to mitigate the destructive penalties of naturally occurring climate phenomena, but it surely can’t be used to create or manipulate hurricanes,” he added.

Conspiracies are additionally circulating about Hurricane Milton, a harmful Class 4 storm that’s set to devastate components of Florida when it makes landfall on Wednesday night time. The Federal Emergency Administration Company has debunked many of those falsehoods on its web site.

These conspiracies embrace the false declare that Florida is blockading individuals within the state to stop evacuations.

“FEMA shouldn’t be blockading individuals in Florida and stopping evacuations,” the company wrote on its web site. “FEMA doesn’t management visitors stream or conduct visitors stops, that are dealt with by native authorities. This can be a dangerous rumor that may put lives in peril.”