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The Climate Change Thread



(It’s on Facebook, so here is the post):


Hi. It’s me again. Let’s talk about cloud seeding.

We’re all hurting over here in Texas after these floods. Children are still among the missing. The death toll is now over 100. We’re in various stages of grief and still trying to make sense of what just happened as we grapple with the reality that this flood has permanently altered the trajectory of so many family histories.

So why am I bringing up cloud seeding? Because I’ve seen the same viral videos and posts you have seen claiming that cloud seeding is responsible for the floods in the Texas Hill Country, and it’s inserting confusion and questions into a grieving community that really needs to be focused on other things at this time. Scientific voices in the meteorology community are needed right now to help put these claims to rest, so I will again lend my voice to help answer some of your questions and hopefully clear up some confusion.

What is cloud seeding?

Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that involves injecting a few grams of a chemical (usually silver iodide) into an existing cloud to “seed” the formation of larger water droplets or ice crystals that will then cause the cloud to precipitate slightly more than it would have if left alone. We’ve been doing it in America since the 1940s, and the physics behind it is pretty simple.

How does it work?

Clouds are composed of tiny water droplets or ice crystals called hydrometeors (and that my friends, is where the word “METEORology” comes from!) that need even smaller microscopic particles called “cloud condensation nuclei” to form. These are things like specks of dust, salt, and smoke. When they are present in a moist airmass, that moisture can condense around those particles to create water droplets. Most clouds don’t rain or snow because the water droplets or ice crystals remain too small for gravity to pull them down to the earth. The silver iodide particles injected into clouds are significantly larger “cloud condensation nuclei” that happen to be really good at creating larger droplets or ice crystals that can fall to the ground.

What is the purpose of cloud seeding operations?

Generally these are designed to help enhance rainfall or snowpack in arid regions of the country that do not have dependable rainfall and are subject to droughts.

Is cloud seeding regulated?

Yes, there are both federal regulations and state regulations. It is not done in secret. You can read about federal regulations here https://library.noaa.gov/weather-climate/weather-modification-project-reports and you can read about Texas regulations here https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/weather/

Were cloud seeding operations conducted on the storms that produced the Texas floods?

No. In fact, Texas regulations prohibit cloud seeding on storms that could produce severe weather, tornadoes, or flash floods. One of the companies singled out on social media for cloud seeding conducted its last operation on Wednesday, July 2nd.

Could the cloud seeding conducted two days before the floods have created or impacted the storms on July 4th?

No. Only an existing cloud can be seeded, and once that cloud has been seeded, it rains itself out. Furthermore, the cloud seeding took place southeast of San Antonio, roughly 150 miles away from Kerr County.

Does cloud seeding create stronger “super storms” or lead to less rainfall elsewhere?

The science and observations say no. According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation website, “There is no evidence that the seeding contributes to less rainfall anywhere else. What is more, there is no evidence that seeding causes clouds to grow substantially taller and produce unwanted effects (such as damaging winds, hail, and flash floods). To the contrary, the available evidence from over eight years of research in West Texas suggests cloud seeding, when done timely and accurately, contributes to more gentle, widespread, and longer-lasting rains.”

The TDLR FAQ section on cloud seeding is an excellent resource, and I highly recommend you read it if you would like explore this topic more: https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/weather/weatherfaq.htm

I also once again recommend watching this exceptional video primer from my weather friend ABC News Chief Meteorologist Ginger Zee: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/video/116008822

Even though cloud seeding was not responsible for the Hill Country floods, I know there are moral and ethical concerns when it comes to modifying the weather (or any natural Earth system), however small those modifications may be, and the topic is worth more public discourse and scrutiny.

At the end of the day, this flood was caused by the remnants of two tropical weather systems that cannot be created nor controlled by mankind, despite claims to the contrary. I mean, look at this rainfall map. That's a year's worth of rain in some communities that fell in 5 days over a geographic area bigger than many states in our country. Does it make sense to you that dropping a few grams of silver iodide into a cloud 150 miles away from the hardest hit communities two days before the flood even occurred could have caused this?

It’s been said before that extraordinary claims you encounter can be true, but you should demand extraordinary evidence to back them up.

If you made it this far, congratulations. I hope it helped. Now let's focus on what really matters: Helping the grieving families and communities in their time of need.

Here are some ways you can help: https://abc13.com/17000575/
 
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A new rule on Homeland Security spending rolled out by Secretary Kristi Noem hobbled the federal emergency agency’s response to the devastating Texas floods, according to a new report.

Four officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, told CNN that a newly introduced requirement for Noem’s signature on any contract and grant over $100,000 delayed their response to the flooding in Texas, where 120 people have died and a further 150 are missing.

“We were operating under a clear set of guidance: lean forward, be prepared, anticipate what the state needs, and be ready to deliver it,” a longtime FEMA official told the news outlet. “That is not as clear of an intent for us at the moment.”

CNN reported that FEMA was unable to move Urban Search and Rescue crews into position when waters started rising on Friday because it needed Noem’s signature, which did not come until Monday.

Texas also requested aerial imagery from FEMA to bolster search and rescue operations, but that was similarly delayed because Noem’s approval was needed for the contract, a source told CNN.

Callers to FEMA’s disaster call center have also been forced to wait longer for a response since Noem’s signature was needed to bring in additional staff, CNN reported.

Multiple FEMA officials told the network that acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson has been given little authority by Noem.

Last month, CNN obtained a memo indicating that all Homeland Security contracts and grants over $100,000 must first be approved by Noem before the funds are released. The memo stated that funding requests must include details such as the mission’s impact, dollar amounts, timeliness issues, descriptions of the supplies or services, and a plan of action.

Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN, “FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.”

“The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades,” she said.

Former FEMA Director Deanne Criswell told The Source with Kaitlan Collins that the new rule could have cost lives.

“What happened, I think, here, is that we couldn’t move, or FEMA couldn’t move those resources in like they normally would, to be on the ground ready once they found out how bad the situation was,” she said. “And you lose time, and that’s time that can cost lives in the end. And so it’s really important for emergency managers to always be proactive and thinking ahead and getting resources in place.”
 
Red said:

A new rule on Homeland Security spending rolled out by Secretary Kristi Noem hobbled the federal emergency agency’s response to the devastating Texas floods, according to a new report.

Four officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, told CNN that a newly introduced requirement for Noem’s signature on any contract and grant over $100,000 delayed their response to the flooding in Texas, where 120 people have died and a further 150 are missing.

“We were operating under a clear set of guidance: lean forward, be prepared, anticipate what the state needs, and be ready to deliver it,” a longtime FEMA official told the news outlet. “That is not as clear of an intent for us at the moment.”

CNN reported that FEMA was unable to move Urban Search and Rescue crews into position when waters started rising on Friday because it needed Noem’s signature, which did not come until Monday.

Texas also requested aerial imagery from FEMA to bolster search and rescue operations, but that was similarly delayed because Noem’s approval was needed for the contract, a source told CNN.

Callers to FEMA’s disaster call center have also been forced to wait longer for a response since Noem’s signature was needed to bring in additional staff, CNN reported.

Multiple FEMA officials told the network that acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson has been given little authority by Noem.

Last month, CNN obtained a memo indicating that all Homeland Security contracts and grants over $100,000 must first be approved by Noem before the funds are released. The memo stated that funding requests must include details such as the mission’s impact, dollar amounts, timeliness issues, descriptions of the supplies or services, and a plan of action.

Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN, “FEMA is shifting from bloated, DC-centric dead weight to a lean, deployable disaster force that empowers state actors to provide relief for their citizens.”

“The old processes are being replaced because they failed Americans in real emergencies for decades,” she said.

Former FEMA Director Deanne Criswell told The Source with Kaitlan Collins that the new rule could have cost lives.

“What happened, I think, here, is that we couldn’t move, or FEMA couldn’t move those resources in like they normally would, to be on the ground ready once they found out how bad the situation was,” she said. “And you lose time, and that’s time that can cost lives in the end. And so it’s really important for emergency managers to always be proactive and thinking ahead and getting resources in place.”
Click to expand...
FEMA couldn't be sent to help until Kristi Noem received her new search and rescue costume from Amazon. That was the reason for the delay.
 
Kristi Noem set a requirement that any expenditure over 100K had to get her direct approval, which delayed the response to the Texas floods by 3 days. Critical time during which they were searching for survivors.

Let's talk about the $750 payments to people in South Carolina as immediate benefits following the disaster there. Biden was massively criticized for the $750 payments, as if that was all there was for victims, when it was an immediate payment, meant to help anyone and everyone affected. It was not the total extent of help, just an amount that anyone who could show that they were in the affected area could access so that they could pay for things like food and a hotel for their family.

Did the people in texas get an immediate $750 payment? Anything?

How long did it take the dog assassin to do anything at all? I mean besides buying her newest costume.

Stick to shooting puppies Kirstie Noem, because you suck at being secretary of homeland security.

59873136_0.jpg
 

He seeded clouds over Texas. Then came the conspiracy theories.​

Cloud seeding couldn’t have caused the floods that killed more than 100 people, experts say. But rumormongers suggested a link to one company’s work.

Augustus Doricko knew when he founded a cloud-seeding start-up in 2023 that he’d have to contend with misunderstandings and conspiracy theories surrounding the technology. Still, he wasn’t quite prepared for the sheer volume of online fury he has faced in the wake of the catastrophic Texas floods that have killed more than 100 people, with almost twice that many missing.

“It has been nonstop pandemonium,” Doricko said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Doricko and his company, Rainmaker, have become a focal point of posts spiraling across social media that suggest the floods in Kerr County were a human-made disaster. An array of influencers, media personalities, elected officials and other prominent figures — including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) and former Trump adviser Michael Flynn — have publicly raised the possibility that cloud-seeding operations like Rainmaker’s might have caused or at least exacerbated the historic deluge.

That’s impossible, atmospheric scientists say. Cloud seeding, in which planes scatter dust particles through clouds to trigger rain and snow, remains a fledgling technology, the effects of which are too limited and localized to produce anything remotely like the 15 inches of rain that drowned swaths of South Central Texas over the Fourth of July weekend.

“The amount of energy involved in making storms like that is astronomical compared to anything you can do with cloud seeding,” said Bob Rauber, an emeritus professor in atmoshpheric science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has studied the technology. “We’re talking about a very small increase on a natural process at best.”

That hasn’t stopped conspiracy theorists from latching onto cloud seeding as an incendiary explanation for natural disasters. The search for a scapegoat has turned a spotlight on a controversial technology that has drawn interest from drought-stricken Western states and dozens of countries trying to replenish reservoirs, despite limited evidence that it works and broader social and environmental concerns about altering the weather. And it underscores how conspiracy theories can flourish in the aftermath of natural disasters as people seek information — and the clout that can come from providing sensational answers.

This much is true: On the afternoon of July 2, a single-engine plane operated by the El Segundo, California-based start-up Rainmaker flew on a cloud-seeding job over Runge, Texas, more than 100 miles southeast of Kerr County. Over the course of about 20 minutes, it released about 70 grams of silver iodide into a pair of clouds; the mission was followed by a modest drizzle that dropped less than half a centimeter of rain over the parched farms below, Doricko said.

The run was part of a contract that Rainmaker had entered this spring with the South Texas Weather Modification Association, a nonprofit funded by local water management districts to refill reservoirs and boost rainfall over cropland.

Soon after, Doricko said, his company’s meteorologists saw a storm front approaching and called off their operations in the area. By the morning of July 4, the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry had dumped up to 15 inches of rain over parts of Kerr County.

But online sleuths steeped in conspiracy theories seized upon the coincidence.

On July 5, as the toll of dead and missing mounted, verified accounts on social media platform X demanded “accountability” as they circulated documents showing Rainmaker’s registration to perform weather modification projects in Texas.

I’d love to see the response,” Flynn responded in a post that was viewed 1 million times.
Greene, who drew widespread rebukes last year when she implied that Hurricane Helene may have been engineered, said Saturday on X that she was introducing a bill that would make attempts to alter the weather “a felony offense.” Her post drew 18 million views.
TikTok influencers posted clips from a recent interview on a podcast hosted by former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan, with whom Doricko described his company’s work and discussed who would be held responsible if it went awry. Some videos juxtaposed Doricko’s words with footage of the devastation in Texas or spliced them with an ominous cinematic score.

Doricko felt an air of inevitability as his mentions in recent days piled up with questions, accusations and threats. “I always anticipated that a moment like this would happen,” he said in an interview. “Basically every time there’s been severe weather somewhere in the world, people have blamed weather modification.”
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A climate change denier posted this Rogan tweet, as a reply to me. I left a thank you, because, although the poster likely considered it a critique of my remarks regarding conspiracism, it’s actually a compliment to those of us not persuaded by conspiracism. I don’t follow or listen to Rogan at all, but have noticed he’s been more upset by some of Trump’s decisions lately.


View: https://x.com/MrEncouragement/status/1942912039166312618
 
Last edited:
Sardines said:
Kristi Noem set a requirement that any expenditure over 100K had to get her direct approval, which delayed the response to the Texas floods by 3 days. Critical time during which they were searching for survivors.

Let's talk about the $750 payments to people in South Carolina as immediate benefits following the disaster there. Biden was massively criticized for the $750 payments, as if that was all there was for victims, when it was an immediate payment, meant to help anyone and everyone affected. It was not the total extent of help, just an amount that anyone who could show that they were in the affected area could access so that they could pay for things like food and a hotel for their family.

Did the people in texas get an immediate $750 payment? Anything?

How long did it take the dog assassin to do anything at all? I mean besides buying her newest costume.

Stick to shooting puppies Kirstie Noem, because you suck at being secretary of homeland security.

59873136_0.jpg
Click to expand...
The Biden administration apparently provided funds for a warning system:

www.latintimes.com

Flooded Texas County Turned Down Funds for Warning System From Biden Admin in 2021: 'We Don't Want to Be Bought'

Kerr County officials rejected federal aid in 2021 that could have funded flood sirens, citing political objections.
www.latintimes.com www.latintimes.com

In 2021, the Biden administration awarded Kerr County $10.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, which could have been used for flood prevention infrastructure. But commissioners, facing political pressure from conservative residents, opted not to pursue a warning system.

At an April 2022 meeting, one citizen called the White House a "criminal treasonous communist government," urging the county to reject the money altogether. Others echoed that sentiment, saying they didn't want the federal government's help.

"We don't want to be bought by the federal government, thank you very much," a resident said. "We'd like the federal government to stay out of Kerr County and their money."

While the county ultimately kept the funds, they allocated the majority, about $8 million, to sheriff's department upgrades and public employee stipends.

www.forbes.com

Here’s Why Texas Lacked A Flood Warning System Everyone Knew It Needed

Politics played a pivotal role in Kerr County’s lack of a flood warning system—including local distrust of Biden-era handouts.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

As for FEMA….


As the Federal Emergency Management Agency responds to the deadly flooding in Texas, one key resource is missing: the FEMA leader.

David Richardson, the agency’s acting administrator, has not been to the site of one of the nation’s deadliest floods in the U.S. in the past 25 years, upending a long practice of FEMA leaders making themselves visible after major disasters.
 
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