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'Chemtrails' and other climate conspiracies: Florida Tech's expert sets the record straight

When Florida Today columnist Tim Walters wanted to 'clear the air' about a popular conspiracy theory, he connected with Michael Splitt, an assistant professor at Florida Institute of Technology's College of Aeronautics with a focus on meteorology. The "chemtrail" conspiracy follows the erroneous belief that condensation trails (contrails) that trail behind jets are actually being used on a large scale to manage radiation and combat global warming. In the column, Splitt argued against the conspiracy by explaining what might happen if that level of "climate engineering" was actually going on.  I recently wrote a column about the “chemtrail” conspiracy theory, and to say it caused quite a stir would be a serious understatement. My motivation for writing the piece came because there is a bill being looked at by the Florida legislature to address concerns of people who think the skies are being seeded by commercial airplanes with poisonous, weather-manipulating substances. Some of those raising concerns claim there are vague amorphous operatives in the federal government leading this charge. I decided I’d try to find answers, and I did so by asking someone credible in the field of weather sciences. Answers from climate expert Can the climate be altered by humans? The idea of trying to manipulate weather is called “climate engineering.” There is a form of this called solar geoengineering. “We've been doing things like this for decades in terms of, for example, fog management products. People have used this kind of methodology of adding things to the air to help get rid of fog, like the ice fog problem in Salt Lake City. So, there are places where people try to manage a local cloud layer,” Splitt said.  However, it’s not done to a scale that would impact the country or globe. That’s where conspiracy theorists take climate engineering a step too far. There are those who say commercial airliners are spraying other substances like aluminum and barium (and other metallic) nano particles to reflect the sun's heat to reduce global warming. Splitt said if this were real, it might have the opposite effect. “When you have more contrails, it actually ends up warming the planet. The cirrus clouds created by aircraft and their reflective power isn't as much as let's say, the warming impact from below, from infrared radiation, so they end up being warmer." March 20 - Florida Today In the full column, Splitt also takes on other common misconceptions such as, "Why do some contrails last longer than others?" And, "Are ‘chemtrails’ steering, strengthening storms?" It's a worthwhile read for those interested in meteorology or conspiracy theories. Are you curious or looking to know more about those chasing clouds? Michael Splitt is available to speak with media. Contact Adam Lowenstein, Director of Media Communications at Florida Institute of Technology, at adam@fit.edu to arrange an interview today.

UConn Expert, 10 Years after Sandy Hook, on the Lies that 'Plague the U.S.'

UConn professor and journalist Amanda J. Crawford considers the misinformation that spread like wildfire after tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School to be "the first major conspiracy theory of the modern social media age."  Ten years after 26 young students and school staff were killed in the massacre, the impact of that day in 2012 continues to reverberate in America today. On this solemn anniversary, Crawford writes about the aftermath of Sandy Hook misinformation in a new essay for The Conversation:   Conspiracy theories are powerful forces in the U.S. They have damaged public health amid a global pandemic, shaken faith in the democratic process and helped spark a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. These conspiracy theories are part of a dangerous misinformation crisis that has been building for years in the U.S. While American politics has long had a paranoid streak, and belief in conspiracy theories is nothing new, outlandish conspiracy theories born on social media now regularly achieve mainstream acceptance and are echoed by people in power. Recently, one of the most popular American conspiracy theorists faced consequences in court for his part in spreading viral lies. Right-wing radio host Alex Jones and his company, Infowars, were ordered by juries in Connecticut and Texas to pay nearly $1.5 billion in damages to relatives of victims killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School a decade ago. Jones had falsely claimed that the shooting was a hoax. As a journalism professor at the University of Connecticut, I have studied the misinformation that surrounded the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012 – including Jones’ role in spreading it to his audience of millions. I consider it the first major conspiracy theory of the modern social media age, and I believe we can trace our current predicament to the tragedy’s aftermath. Ten years ago, the Sandy Hook shooting demonstrated how fringe ideas could quickly become mainstream on social media and win support from various establishment figures – even when the conspiracy theory targeted grieving families of young students and school staff killed during the massacre. Those who claimed the tragedy was a hoax showed up in Newtown and harassed people connected to the shooting. This provided an early example of how misinformation spread on social media could cause real-world harm. Amanda J. Crawford is a veteran political reporter, literary journalist, and expert in journalism ethics, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and the First Amendment. Click on her icon now to arrange an interview with her today.

Conspiracy Theories & Social Media

A recent Rolling Stone article examining an FBI memo focused on the spread of conspiracy theories includes analysis from Kathleen Stansberry, assistant professor of strategic communications.  The article was prompted by reporting by Yahoo News on the memo, which cited a number of violent incidents believed to be linked to conspiracy theories and offered that "these conspiracy theories very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace, occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts." In the Rolling Stone article, reporter EJ Dickson focused specifically on the activity of QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory about a supposed "deep state" effort targeting President Donald Trump and his supporters.  In the article, Stansberry explains the role that social media — in particular the YouTube and Twitter platforms — have played in propagating these theories and why conspiracy theories can be so dangerous.  This, says Stansberry, is precisely what makes conspiracy theories so dangerous: because they are impossible to disprove, any outsider attempt to poke holes in them is always viewed as just another sign, just another breadcrumb, just another reason for you to keep fighting to get the real story out into the world. “You’re trying to share the truth as you see it, and there’s some reason why that truth is being hidden,” she explains. “If you truly believe in the conspiracy theory, then you’re David against Goliath.” She suggests that the memo “could certainly have stoked some of the desire for people to push what they see as their truth out.” If Dr. Stansberry can assist with your reporting about social media and the spread of conspiracy theories, please reach out to News Bureau Director Owen Covington at ocovington@elon.edu or (336) 278-7413. Dr. Stansberry is available for phone, email and broadcast interviews.