Debunked: Hurricane Milton wasn’t man-made through cloud seeding

Debunked: Hurricane Milton wasn’t man-made through Cloud SeedingThe Independent

Transcript

00:00Hurricane Milton caused by cloud seeding? Really?

00:04Why are some people blaming the US government for creating, or even manipulating, Hurricane Milton?

00:10Marjorie Taylor Greene, a congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather.

00:16It's beyond ridiculous.

00:17Well, conspiracy theorists, they've found a new conspiracy theory.

00:20They've claimed, without any evidence scientifically, that this technique,

00:25which some countries use to make rain, was turned into a secret hurricane-making machine.

00:30Or it's just manipulating the hurricane.

00:33But here's the deal. Cloud seeding isn't some magic storm maker.

00:37There isn't a tool that would allow anyone to create or control a storm like this.

00:43Cloud seeding is more like giving clouds a little nudge, pushing them to drop some extra rain or snow.

00:48For example, when there's been a dry season and they want crops to grow.

00:52They send tiny particles up into the sky, into the clouds.

00:56And this technique is used all over the world, including in Dubai.

01:00But the US has actually dabbled in trying to stop hurricanes before.

01:05In the 40s and the 60s, experiments like Project Cirrus and Stormfury

01:11saw scientists trying to weaken hurricanes by dropping crushed dried ice into storm clouds.

01:17Spoiler alert, it did not work.

01:19And since then, the government hasn't been keen on playing storm chaser scientist anymore.

01:25So cloud seeding can't create or control hurricanes.

01:29And even if it could, why would the government want to summon a storm

01:33that's killed multiple people and will cost them billions in disaster recovery?

01:38And also just ahead of an election, it just doesn't add up.

01:42So why do some of the far right make these claims?

01:45Well, maybe just because they want to believe Democrats are behind every disaster.