this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
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The agency took the unusual step of creating websites debunking the conspiracy theory that chemicals are being sprayed in the sky to control the weather or do other things.

The websites are:

Apparently this conspiracy theory was too bonkers for even the Trump regime.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Regular airplane made clouds are enough, don't need any conspiracy. ~~It's leaded fuel as well, so we're being sprayed with lead particles (because profits, there is no technological reason they have to use lead) while~~ the clouds they can leave (contrails?) in certain conditions add about 100% warming effect when compared to just the CO2 spewing.

https://www.knmi.nl/over-het-knmi/nieuws/hoe-dragen-vliegtuigstrepen-bij-aan-de-opwarming-van-de-aarde dutch source for this claim.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Avgas has lead. Jet fuel does not.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oops, thank Glob I was wrong! still dumb that avgas for piston planes use it but thats a whole different story.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

A scary side effect of this is how many small plane pilots don’t use gloves when checking fuel. In my flight school, I was the only student who used gloves. Everyone else just covers the tube with their thumb, unconcerned with how easily lead can pass through their skin.

Fuel that gets checked usually gets dumped on the ground, too. It’d be interesting (and probably unsettling) to see how much lead finds its way into the ground around airports.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Well shit, I never believed in chemtrails, but if this administration says they aren't real I'm second guessing that belief now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

I prefer to figure out what's true and not based on the strength of the evidence. Baseless conspiracy theories are baseless no matter who promotes or debunks them.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Kind of reductive that the headline is "Chemtrials are not real or causing foods", but the linked website points out that contrails are real, and

Current models indicate that persistent contrail clouds could have a small net warming effect.

And considering that climate change is considered a contributing factor to floods...

Additionally, one of the leading conspiracy theories related to the floods is about cloud seeding, not chemtrails. And, while cloud seeding is real (and has happened in south-central Texas), it did not cause the Texas floods.

So yes, the headline is technically correct, but there's a lot of additional context that I feel like they're skipping over.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

People would rather believe conspiracy theory bullshit with zero evidence, then the actual science that, at this point, likely has more data and evidence than anything we've ever studied in history.

These people's brains are permanently burnt. We need to focus on younger people to make sure they don't turn into this.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So "chemtrails" is just bone apple tea for "contrails" this whole time?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

People hear about the chemtrails conspiracy theory, look up, see contrails, and then blame them for their cat doing something weird, being attracted to the same sex, headaches, etc because of the conspiracy theory. Some basic knowledge helps avoid that, hence the website describing contrails.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Not every article is going to cover everything

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

That's fair, but my point is that the NYT headline/article seems to be so simplified that it almost becomes contradictory. For example, you quoted this bit

The agency took the unusual step of creating websites debunking the conspiracy theory that chemicals are being sprayed in the sky to control the weather or do other things.

But later in the article it also says

The chief executive of Rainmaker, Augustus Doricko, has said that while the company released silver iodide into a pair of clouds on July 2, the mission led to less than half a centimeter of rain falling on drought-stricken farmland

So there is a company that is effectively "spraying chemicals in the sky" with the express intent of "leading to rain falling". Again, I realize that is very different from the "chemtrail" conspiracy theory, but that nuance could have been handled so much better.

I much prefer the phrasing of the AP article's headline that I linked earlier: "No, weather modification did not cause the deadly flash floods in Texas."

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Or... and here's my own little conspiracy theory... it was pushed by bad actors at the EPA, as such an "unusual step" could serve as a reverse psy-op to further initiate and entrench the nutcases who believe in extreme weather-modifying geoengineering, because "why is the EPA trying so hard to tell us it's not real, it must be a cover-up, ABOLISH THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTION AGENCY NOW!" (/s)

It does read as an earnest attempt by the reasonable people at the EPA, with info in clear language that attempts to appeal to a reader in saying their questions are valid. Even so, it will probably fuel the above conspiratorial thinking either way.

Hell, it's already fueled mine. I don't know who or what parts of this government we can trust anymore.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

I recommend thinking about how to evaluate truth without depending on trust.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Exactly. What else would the EPA say?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

It would be great if conservatives could read