Catastrophe and the danger posed by climate conspiracy theories: controlling the weather to mining in North Carolina

More and more major events in the United States, such as natural disasters, are becoming breeding grounds for conspiracy theories. Often rooted in fear and distrust, these ideas can spread widely and rapidly through the Internet. For instance, the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene has proven to be a source of many theories. These range from those that center on Democrats controlling the weather to intentionally destroying areas to open them up for lithium mining. When the country’s leaders espouse them, they are lent credibility and legitimacy, allowing them to spread even further. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has doubled on her claim that “they,” meaning scientists or her political rivals, control the weather. The Congresswoman’s defenders have conflated her claims with the practice of geoengineering, like cloud seeding.

While there are ways in which scientists have identified ways to create more rain, no such technology exists to generate a hurricane. Additionally, the claims neglect the fact that the climate justice activists, who the Georgia leader takes serious issue with, are some of the most skeptical members of the environmental movement when it comes to geoengineering.

How these conspiracies take hold online

And while there is a tendency to blame those who fall victim to these theories, their belief in them stems from these answers fitting into their worldview. What conditions in society are allowing these ideas to take hold? A world view of distrust, informed by a sense of abandonment by their government and the sources of information traditionally viewed as apolitical in decades past. Isolation and the Internet are a self-feeding cycle where a person gathers and discusses information within an echo chamber, which can reinforce the legitimacy of their views without having to listen, confront, or debate any dissenting opinion.

The conspiracy serves as a scapegoat

The idea that Democrats control the weather serves as a convenient scapegoat, allowing the oil and gas industry, along with the lobbyists who bribed leaders in Washington and state capitals, to evade responsibility for their neglect of the climate change threat. The verb “to conspire,” as defined by Merriam-Webster, means “to join in a secret agreement to do an unlawful or wrongful act or an act which becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement.” Undoubtedly, the public and private sectors have conspired to downplay the threat of climate change, justifying their inaction to mitigate the impacts or, at the very least, adapt to the changing environment. The cost of this conspiracy? The lives of thousands who mourn the loved ones and community they have lost. The public’s realization of this betrayal should lead to a demand for profound justice and accountability.

What happens when people wake up?

For the residents of western North Carolina, these conspiracy theories only add to their pain. Leaders, including Republicans, have spoken out about how these theories undermine the work of first responders, officials, and law enforcement but also sow distrust between these groups and the residents who depend on their support to survive and rebuild. The impact of these theories on the victims of Hurricane Helene is a stark reminder of the real-world consequences of misinformation. It underscores the importance of critically evaluating the narratives we encounter, as the truth is often buried beneath layers of deceit.

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida, some of these theories are taking on a life of their own. What is so interesting about the theories that surround Democrats and liberals controlling the weather is that they accept that the events that have transpired are notably different than storms experienced in the past.

It is as if the storms are becoming more intense and less predictable.

It is as if changes to the earth’s environment create climatic conditions that seem unbelievable.

It is as if climate change is not some distant issue for future generations to manage but that it is here, and those not ready to reckon with that reality are looking for any other excuse to explain what they are seeing.

The excuses embedded in their theories explain away the fault of leaders who have taken such little action to prepare the infrastructure residents in vulnerable areas rely on when these storms come through. These excuses explain away why so little was done to reduce emissions and slow the impacts of rising global temperatures that allow these more destructive storms to develop.

But when the reality becomes undeniable, when the scientific consensus that human activity has led to the rapid changes in climate patterns becomes unable to be ignored. When the terror inflicted on one’s countrymen is visible on social media and the nightly news, people will begin to search for answers as to why they have been placed in this position. Maybe those looking for answers would find Exxon Mobile’s internal memos from the 1970s, where their scientists took note of the destruction fossil fuels could cause to the earth’s environment and that instead of doing something proactive, they aimed to bury the findings. Climate activist, Bill McKibben, who heads up 350.org, has lambasted administrations from both major political parties, for the decades long failure to confront the issue they knew was boiling right in front of them. In an interview he conducted with another climate advocate, published in with e360, explained that “at no time” over the last several decades was the public governed by “an administration that determined that we were going to get out of the fossil fuel business and began to put in place measures to do it.”

What happens when the public concludes that the country’s leaders and private sector conspired to ensure that climate policy never dethroned the fossil fuel industry without a thought paid to the bodies piling up worldwide?