copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: I am talking about the slaughter, death, and starvation of 6 billion people this century—that's what the science predicts. (Roger Hallam, 2019-08-22)
Evidence (2020-10-12): Each of the following selected projections are from the IPCC special report. In most instances, climate-related risks for natural and human systems were found to be higher, often significantly so, under the hotter temperature threshold. The degree of these risks depends on many factors, such as the rate, duration and magnitude of warming; geographic location; levels of development and vulnerability; and on how humans respond through adaptation and mitigation options. Some regions, such as small island states, will experience multiple climate-related risks that compound upon each other. [...] People in river basins, especially in the Middle and Near East, will be particularly vulnerable. [...] Impacts will vary by region due to many factors such as the ability of populations to adjust to changes in their environment, vulnerability of populations, their human-made surroundings and access to air conditioning.
Claim: I am talking about the slaughter, death, and starvation of 6 billion people this century—that's what the science predicts. (Roger Hallam, 2019-08-22)
Evidence (2019-05-06): - 105%: increase in global human population (from 3.7 to 7.6 billion) since 1970 unevenly across countries and regions - 50 times higher: per capita GDP in developed vs. least developed countries - >2,500: conflicts over fossil fuels, water, food and land currently occurring worldwide - >1,000: environmental activists and journalists killed between 2002 and 2013
Claim: I am talking about the slaughter, death, and starvation of 6 billion people this century—that's what the science predicts. (Roger Hallam, 2019-08-22)
Evidence (2011-03-06): - Without adaptive measures, the number of people who lack sufficient water for at least one month per year will soar from 3.6 billion today to more than 5 billion by 2050. [...] Sources: IPCC - The unsustainable use of land, soil, water and energy for food contributes to greenhouse gas emissions that cause rising temperatures. Higher temperatures in turn affect resources to produce food. Up to 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020, as many as 161 million more than in 2019.
Claim: I am talking about the slaughter, death, and starvation of 6 billion people this century—that's what the science predicts. (Roger Hallam, 2019-08-22)
Evidence (2018-05-03): Food security will be increasingly affected by projected future climate change (high confidence). Across Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) 1, 2, and 3, global crop and economic models projected a 1–29% cereal price increase in 2050 due to climate change (RCP 6.0), which would impact consumers globally through higher food prices; regional effects will vary (high confidence). Low-income consumers are particularly at risk, with models projecting increases of 1–183 million additional people at risk of hunger across the SSPs compared to a no climate change scenario (high confidence). While increased CO2 is projected to be beneficial for crop productivity at lower temperature increases, it is projected to lower nutritional quality (high confidence) (e.g., wheat grown at 546–586 ppm CO2 has 5.9–12.7% less protein, 3.7–6.5% less zinc, and 5.2–7.5% less iron). Distributions of pests and diseases will change, affecting production negatively in many regions (high confidence). Given increasing extreme events and interconnectedness, risks of food system disruptions are growing (high confidence). {5.2.3, 5.2.4}
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2023-08-07): While it is possible to change the Earth’s long-term climate through elevated atmospheric greenhouse gases, humans lack the scientific, technological, and logistical capabilities to control short-term weather events at the global scale. There is no evidence for the existence of chemtrails, nor for their claimed impact on global atmospheric chemical composition and physical properties. The Sun drives weather and sends far more energy to Earth than ionosphere heating facilities like HAARP can transmit. These facilities are radio transmitters that can only excite small areas of the ionosphere directly above them, whereas weather occurs primarily in the troposphere and all over the planet.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2024-07-21): As the industry grows, so have conspiracy theories. BBC Weather has seen a large increase in social media comments around geo-engineering since January, accusing us of covering up secret projects and wrongly blaming geo-engineering for the cool and wet weather we’ve recently had. Worldwide, there have been twice as many mentions of geo-engineering this year on X, formerly known as Twitter, than over the last six months of 2023. [...] This method of geo-engineering involves artificially adding aerosols such as sulphate into the stratosphere, which extends from 6-12 miles (10-20km) to 31 miles (50km) above the Earth. These aerosols would reflect some solar radiation, reducing the amount reaching our planet’s surface and theoretically cause a global cooling. [...] Contrails at this height actually absorb solar radiation and warm the planet and are therefore nothing to do with geo-engineering techniques currently being explored.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2021-12-29): In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson received the first presidential briefing on climate change. At the time, geoengineering—the intentional manipulation of the climate—was presented as one of the only possible solutions. Proposals since then have ranged from the fanciful (dropping billions of white balls into the oceans to absorb sunlight) to the formidable (unfurling a giant sheet of reflective mesh between the Earth and the sun). Those ideas may sound "outlandish and upsetting," one scientific journal acknowledged—but they could give us an emergency brake to pull if we can't stop global warming. [...] As a result, no single governing body is overseeing geoengineering efforts on a global scale. What there are, instead, are laws and treaties that cover different areas but could provide some guidance for regulating geoengineering efforts. The Law of the Sea, for example, could prevent efforts to alter the oceans, such as by dropping in a billion white balls. A 1976 treaty prohibits the use of weather modification—conjuring up a snowstorm, for example—as a weapon. But no international agreement or enforcement mechanism directly addresses geoengineering.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2024-04-02): Most geoengineering options are theoretical and untested. Federal researchers have taken only a few small steps toward studying their feasibility, and atmospheric scientists say there is no evidence of any large-scale programs. [...] In recent years, some chemtrails conspiracy theories have evolved, with believers suggesting that contrails are actually aerosols designed to control the weather or the climate. The Tennessee Lookout, a nonprofit news organization, reported that Republican Sen. Steve Southerland, one of the sponsors, referred to the chemtrails theory when he presented his argument for the bill to a reporter. [...] "What you see is the mixing up and conflation of all these things — geoengineering is the same as weather modification is the same as chemtrails or contrails," said Horton, who reviewed video of recent legislative testimony.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2018-07-26): Among other concerns, critics argue it’s far too dangerous to consider tinkering with the global climate system. But the field, and Keith’s research in particular, has also gotten ensnared in conspiracy theories about "chemtrails." Proponents assert that the condensation trails created by aircraft are actually evidence that the military, or someone, is already spraying chemicals into the sky for wide-scale weather modification, mind control, or other nefarious purposes. [...] Though chemtrail theories have been repeatedly debunked, they’re surprisingly widespread. A study published in Nature found that up to 40 percent of Americans believe these theories are "completely" or "somewhat" true. Such "conspiratorial views" also accounted for around 60 percent of the conversation about geoengineering on social media. Keith himself regularly receives hateful messages, and even threats of physical violence, as a result of his research. [...] But I am worried, full stop, that chemtrail concerns are bleeding over into solar geoengineering in a way that will make it much harder to have a sensible conversation.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2024-10-08): Failed historical attempts to control hurricanes differ somewhat from some scientists’ futuristic ideas to combat climate change and extreme weather. That’s because instead of targeting individual weather events, modern geoengineers would operate on a larger scale — thinking about how to reverse the broad-scale damage humans have already done to the global climate by emitting greenhouse gases.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2018-12-06): The conspiracy isn’t exactly small. Around 60 percent of all social media discourse on geoengineering is conspiratorial, according to co-authored research I published last year. A representative poll of the U.S. public reveals that 10 percent describe the conspiracy as "completely true," another 20 to 30 percent say it is "somewhat true." Belief in the conspiracy appears across party lines, and it can get rather personal, too—death threats and all. [...] I have no doubt that some who have stumbled upon the chemtrails conspiracy are earnestly looking for the truth. Much like some who believe that vaccinations cause autism, despite all evidence to the contrary, are motivated by having a close relative suffer from autism, chemtrail conspirators sometimes appear to be looking to learn why a loved one suffers from a respiratory illness. The real answer, sadly often, is indeed air pollution, which kills some 3 to 6 million people a year globally. Decreasing that pollution clearly ought to be a global priority. [...] All that, of course, raises the question of why to trust scientists in the first place. Wouldn’t they have an incentive to hide evidence if there were a global "chemtrails" program operating somewhere? Well, no—that’s just not how science works. Does any one institution have incentives to keep secrets? Sure. But would individual scientists across the world keep some sort of vast "chemtrails" conspiracy a secret?
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2024-04-22): Reports that cloud seeding caused this week’s flooding were likely erroneous, but the reaction they inspired "represents a healthy kind of skepticism about what happens when we interfere with natural systems," Laura Kuhl, a public-policy professor at Northeastern University who studies climate adaptation, told me. That’s particularly true, she said, when you consider forms of geoengineering premised on producing large-scale effects. Scientists have proposed injecting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere to reflect some sunlight back into space, preventing it from reaching Earth’s surface. The resulting aerosols could linger in the stratosphere for years, shifting at the whims of the wind. Similar concerns surround another geoengineering technique that involves spraying salt compounds into the air to brighten clouds, which would in turn bounce sunlight back into space. This month, scientists conducted a secretive test of this technology, the first of its kind in the United States. The field is "moving a lot faster than it used to," Juan Moreno-Cruz, a climate-policy researcher at the University of Waterloo, told me.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2023-05-05): - USA TODAY, April 28, 2023, Fact check: No, the media did not 'admit' governments are utilizing geoengineering technologies - USA TODAY, Feb. 28, Fact check: False claim geoengineering is behind climate change - USA TODAY, Jan. 25, Fact check: False claim ‘chemtrails’ and HAARP are used to manipulate the weather - USA TODAY, Jan. 19, Fact check: Greenhouse gases are a driving factor in global warming, contrary to post - USA TODAY, Jan. 11, Fact check: No evidence of negative health effects from airplane contrails - USA TODAY, Aug. 16, 2016, Scientists disprove airplane 'chemtrail' theory - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, June 2019, Technology Factsheet: Solar Geoengineering - Encyclopedia Brittanica, March 17, Cloud seeding - Environmental Protection Agency, Aug. 1, 2022, Climate Change Indicators: Greenhouse Gases - Environmental Protection Agency, September 2000, Aircraft Contrails Factsheet - Florencia Soto Niño-Martinez, May 3, Email exchange and phone interview with USA TODAY - Harvard University, accessed Feb. 20, Geoengineering - Harvard University, accessed Jan. 19, Chemtrails Conspiracy Theory - NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed May 4, Carbon dioxide - NASA Vital Signs of the Planet, accessed May 4, How Do We Know Climate Change Is Real?
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2018-01-31): 'Chemtrail' conspiracy theorists: The people who think governments control the weather [...] "Chemtrail" conspiracy theorists vary in their claims. But some of the most popular include the belief that governments control the weather on a massive scale, that scientists carrying out legitimate research about how to counteract climate change through a process called geo-engineering are secretly poisoning us, or even that secret powerful groups are spraying us with chemicals to make us pliant and easy to control. [...] Nonetheless, "chemtrail" and geo-engineering conspiracy theorists flood social media with speculation, questions and images of contrail cross-hatched skies. One international survey suggested almost 17% of respondents thought chemtrail conspiracy theories true or partly true.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2023-02-28): The researchers found that there is a large amount of ‘spillover’ between geoengineering and conspiracy theories, especially around ‘chemtrails’, a conspiracy theory dating back to the 1990s. The researchers suggest that negative emotions related to geoengineering have a contagion effect, transcending regional boundaries and engaging with wider conspiracies. Their results are reported in the journal iScience. [...] "The chemtrail conspiracy theory is particularly popular among conspiracy theorists based in the United States, and our analysis found that tweets about chemtrails are the common link between geoengineering and conspiracies," said Debnath. "Most of these tweets are sent by American users, but they spill over across regional and national boundaries." [...] The researchers say that the common link between the chemtrails conspiracy and conspiracy theories around geoengineering is the idea that bad actors are ‘weaponising’ the weather with chemicals.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2024-09-30): Washington, DC— Well-understood physical and chemical processes can easily explain the alleged evidence of a secret, large-scale atmospheric spraying program, commonly referred to as "chemtrails" or "covert geoengineering," concludes a new study from Carnegie Science, University of California Irvine, and the nonprofit organization Near Zero. [...] The authors of this study, including Carnegie’s Ken Caldeira, conducted a survey of the world’s leading atmospheric scientists, who categorically rejected the existence of a secret spraying program. The team’s findings, published by Environmental Research Letters, are based on a survey of two groups of experts: atmospheric chemists who specialize in condensation trails and geochemists working on atmospheric deposition of dust and pollution. [...] "Despite the persistence of erroneous theories about atmospheric chemical spraying programs, until now there were no peer-reviewed academic studies showing that what some people think are ‘chemtrails’ are just ordinary contrails, which are becoming more abundant as air travel expands. Also, it is possible that climate change is causing contrails to persist for longer periods than they used to." Caldeira said. "I felt it was important to definitively show what real experts in contrails and aerosols think. We might not convince die-hard believers that their beloved secret spraying program is just a paranoid fantasy, but hopefully their friends will accept the facts."
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2023-08-31): In a recent example from 7 Aug. 2023, a video posted on Facebook presents this theory as part of a global geoengineering conspiracy involving a secret large-scale atmospheric program (SLAP). It describes the saturation of the atmosphere with chemical and metal particulates from airplane chemtrails which has supposedly enabled weather manipulation using a network of ionosphere heating facilities, such as HAARP. Having been viewed over 500 thousand times, this is just one of several social media posts on this topic that have become viral in recent months, such as this, this, and this. The ultimate goal, according to some proponents, is to influence global geopolitics through targeted weather events.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2015-08-01): ‘Chemtrail’ method of military geoengineering for changing the climate. Environmental and health risks and commercial reasons for participating in climate policies 19.5.2015
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2022-03-09): Given the potential threat that geoengineering could pose for the planet, it is important that the global community take steps to establish order in this space. While complete transparency among governments of the world would be ideal in theory, it is the unfortunate reality that some actors may pursue these activities unilaterally and in secret. The dangerous unknowns of such behavior require the capability to detect geoengineering activity wherever necessary. Early detection and localization of unannounced and unilaterally deployed geoengineering activities, either by private actors or states, requires adequate tools for rapid detection and response to maintain global security. The United States must develop its own realistic approach to preparing for emergency geoengineering scenarios. Given the danger that foreign geoengineering could present, the U.S. should establish proper security and deterrence mechanisms that can be carried out quickly and efficiently in case of potentially harmful geoengineering activity abroad.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2023-01-18): Geoengineering refers to the act of deliberately changing the Earth’s systems to control its climate.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2022-01-10): Geoengineering is the term used to describe the manipulation of weather to combat the effects of global warming, according to the Oxford Geoengineering Programme. These methods are generally split into two categories — carbon dioxide removal and solar geoengineering. [...] Geoengineering projects are all created to change Earth's climate. But, they are not all designed to function on our planet. Space geoengineering involves taking a large step back from Earth, in an attempt to make more significant alterations. Entering into space means being closer to the sun, and so much of the geoengineering technology envisaged for Earth's orbit involves manipulating the sunlight that illuminates our planet. [...] Oxford Geoengineering Programme, "What is Geoengineering" http://www.geoengineering.ox.ac.uk "Ocean fertilization: a potential means of geoengineering?", Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A (2008). https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2008.0139 "A Sea Trial of Air-Lift Concept Artificial Upwelling in the East China Sea". Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic technology (2019). https://journals.ametsoc.org "Review of in-space assembly technologies". Chinese Journal of Aeronautics (2021). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1000936120304854
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2018-01-31): 'Chemtrail' conspiracy theorists: The people who think governments control the weather - Published [...] "Chemtrail" conspiracy theorists vary in their claims. But some of the most popular include the belief that governments control the weather on a massive scale, that scientists carrying out legitimate research about how to counteract climate change through a process called geo-engineering are secretly poisoning us, or even that secret powerful groups are spraying us with chemicals to make us pliant and easy to control. [...] Nonetheless, "chemtrail" and geo-engineering conspiracy theorists flood social media with speculation, questions and images of contrail cross-hatched skies. One international survey, external suggested almost 17% of respondents thought chemtrail conspiracy theories true or partly true.
Claim: Global weather is controlled by secret geoengineering programs using chemtrails and ionosphere heating facilities. (Facebook users, 2023-08-07)
Evidence (2021-11-05): ‘Controlling the weather’?: The limitations of the HAARP conspiracy theory [...] Still, some supporters of the theory believe there are HAARP devices hidden all over the world. They've even taken some videos out of context to convince others of the existence of this secret weapon. That's what happened with a video of an electrical installation in Brazil being torn down in 2017. Some said the installation was actually HAARP antennae. [...] But "geoengineering", or the process of modifying the climate on a much larger scale, is an avenue that is being studied more and more. For example, some scientists are working on ideas such as spraying particles into the sky to block sunlight to combat global warming, or modifying the trajectory of hurricanes, but they haven't had very convincing results to date.