Unfounded rumors linking an extreme weather event to human attempts at weather modification are again spreading on social media. It is not plausible that available weather modification techniques caused or influenced the July 4 flash flooding along the Guadalupe River in Texas.
We explain what’s known about how the catastrophic L.A. wildfires started and the factors that scientists do — and don’t — think contributed.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have starkly different track records on climate change. To shed light on the two candidates’ climate agendas, we sorted through their campaign materials and recent statements on the campaign trail.
Experts say people cannot create or meaningfully alter hurricanes through existing weather modification techniques. That has not stopped a deluge of social media posts baselessly claiming or implying that Hurricanes Helene and Milton were intentionally created, steered or otherwise controlled by someone.
Former President Donald Trump, who has famously called climate change a “hoax” for many years, hasn’t used the word lately with respect to climate change. But he still clings to some similar arguments, and other claims he makes about climate change haven’t changed much over the years.
On the campaign trail this summer, former President Donald Trump has routinely cast doubt on climate change by falsely claiming that the oceans will rise just “one-eighth of an inch over the next 400 years.” He’s previously used the same measurement over a period of 250 years. In fact, the current rate of sea level rise is already a little more than one-eighth of an inch each year.
Q: Are wind farms harmful to the environment?
A: Like all energy sources, wind farms have some negative environmental impacts. But getting energy from wind farms results in dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions than getting it from fossil fuels.
Antarctica is losing ice mass to the ocean, contributing to global sea level rise. But a popular video misrepresented work focused on Antarctic ice shelves — which float in the sea at the edges of the continent — to incorrectly suggest that “it is unclear if Antarctica is losing any ice on balance.”
About 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere is made of just two gases: oxygen and nitrogen. By comparison, the amount of carbon dioxide — which at more than 400 parts per million, is the highest it’s been in several million years — may seem small. It’s equivalent to just 0.04% of the atmosphere.
This fact is often cited by people who are trying to falsely claim that CO2 isn’t responsible for global warming. These individuals also often add that the amount of CO2 from humans is just a fraction of that already small total.
The notion that carbon dioxide is “plant food” and that climate change is therefore a good thing or not a problem is a common refrain from those who deny the reality of climate change or who oppose reducing greenhouse emissions.
It’s true that carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas that is causing global warming, is essential for plant growth. Most — but not all plants — tend to respond to increased levels of CO2 by growing more.
But more CO2 is not always good.