Fact check: No, the media did not 'admit' governments are utilizing geoengineering technologies
The claim: Media admits governments are using geoengineering to manipulate weather
An April 23 Instagram post (direct link, archived link) includes a screenshot of an article from The People's Voice.
"The mainstream media has finally admitted what the alternative media has been reporting for years," reads the text in the screenshotted article. "Governments across the world are secretly manipulating the weather using top-secret geoengineering technology."
The screenshot also includes an image of an airplane leaving white trails in the sky.
The post garnered more than 200 likes in three days.
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Our rating: False
The article erroneously conflates geoengineering technologies with cloud-seeding and the chemtrails conspiracy theory. Climate scientists say geoengineering technology is not yet in use and is still being researched. The article was published by a website that regularly publishes fabricated stories.
What we know about cloud seeding and geoengineering
There is no evidence mainstream media outlets reported that governments are utilizing geoengineering technologies.
The People's Voice article includes several video clips of footage featured on ABC News' "The Power of Water" series aired during Earth Week 2023. In the clips, meteorologist Ginger Zee discusses cloud seeding and its use in the Rocky Mountain region to mitigate the effects of drought.
The article also features several ABC News articles reporting on cloud seeding programs and a tweet from Zee about cloud seeding.
But the article erroneously conflates three distinct concepts: cloud seeding, geoengineering and the 'chemtrails' conspiracy theory.
Cloud seeding refers to a localized form of weather manipulation that utilizes aircraft to inject clouds with silver iodide to induce precipitation on a hyperlocal scale.
Geoengineering refers to a number of emerging climate intervention technologies that could manipulate the atmosphere to mitigate the effects of climate change. These are not yet in use.
The "chemtrails" conspiracy theory baselessly claims governments and other nefarious actors are secretly adding toxic chemicals to the atmosphere via airplane condensation trails. There is no such thing.
The People's Voice, previously known as NewsPunch, has a lengthy history of publishing fabricated stories, many of which have been debunked by USA TODAY.
There are two broad categories of geoengineering: carbon geoengineering aims to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while solar geoengineering aims to modify the amount of solar radiation absorbed and released by the Earth’s atmosphere.
Alan Robock, a climate science professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, previously told USA TODAY both categories of climate interventions are still being developed and studied. Robock explained much of the technology necessary to make these interventions work does not yet exist and he was not aware of any ongoing experiments or operations utilizing geoengineering technology.
Fact check: Geoengineering technology not yet in use, despite posts to the contrary
Cloud seeding, on the other hand, has been around for decades.
Cloud-seeding airplanes use flares mounted to the wings and belly of the plane to inject clouds with silver iodide particles. Some programs also use ground-based machines to aerosolize the silver iodide.
The silver iodide condenses the existing moisture in clouds, causing the water molecules to fall as snow or rain. The process only works if there are existing clouds in the sky with lots of moisture in them, according to cloud-seeding experts.
The People’s Voice article purports that these efforts are capable of manipulating the weather and generating severe weather like hailstorms, tornadoes and floods.
But Julie Gondzar, the program manager for Wyoming’s Weather Modification Program, previously told USA TODAY cloud seeding can only increase precipitation on a "microscale" in a localized area.
“A lot of people think it’s manipulating the weather pattern," Gondzar said. "We are essentially just playing with cloud dynamics and cloud physics, on a super, super small scale.”
Charles Konrad, director of NOAA's Southeast Regional Climate Center, previously told USA TODAY that no one has the ability to create large-scale weather events or storms.
Experts say the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory lacks any credibility. Claims purporting to prove chemtrails are real have been repeatedly debunked by USA TODAY and other fact-checkers.
Fact check: False claim ‘chemtrails’ and HAARP are used to manipulate the weather
USA TODAY reached out to the People's Voice and the Instagram user who shared the post for comment, neither of whom immediately responded.
Our fact-check sources:
USA TODAY, April 20, Fact check: Geoengineering technology not yet in use, despite posts to the contrary
USA TODAY, Jan. 25, Fact check: False claim ‘chemtrails’ and HAARP are used to manipulate the weather
USA TODAY, Feb. 28, Fact check: False claim geoengineering is behind climate change
ABC News, March 9, 2016, Cloud Seeding: How Humans Helped Make It Rain During El Ni?o Storm in LA
ABC News, Feb. 7, 2001, Scientists Seed Clouds to Make Rain
ABC News Live, April 18, Twitter post
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, June 2019, Technology Factsheet: Solar Geoengineering
CNN, Mar. 14, 2022, Scientists in the US are flying planes into clouds to make it snow more
CNN, Dec. 22, 2018, New technology can make clouds drop rain
CNN, Sept. 30, 2018, Drought woes? This tech can literally make it rain
Encyclopedia Brittanica, March 17, 2023, Cloud seeding
Environmental Protection Agency, September 2000, Aircraft Contrails Factsheet
Ginger Zee, April 17, Twitter post
Harvard University, accessed Feb. 20, Geoengineering
Harvard University, accessed Jan. 19, Chemtrails Conspiracy Theory
Scientific American, March 16, 2021, Eight States Are Seeding Clouds to Overcome Megadrought
Smithsonian Magazine, August 22, 2016, Science Officially Debunks Chemtrails, But the Conspiracy Will Likely Live On
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No, media did not admit government is using geoengineering
