Contrary to popular belief, HAARP cannot manipulate weather or cause floods. Claims linking HAARP to recent flooding events are unfounded. Climate change, which intensifies precipitation and flooding, is the key factor behind the increasing severity of storms. Misinformation around HAARP undermines the reality of climate change’s impact on weather.
The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), located in Alaska, cannot manipulate weather or cause flooding, contrary to popular conspiracy theories circulating on social media. HAARP’s primary function is to study the ionosphere, a part of the atmosphere that is significantly higher than where weather occurs. Claims linking HAARP to recent severe flooding events in Valencia, Spain; New Mexico, USA; and Dubai are unfounded and ignore the role of climate change in intensifying heavy rainfall and flooding risk. Scientific data indicates that climate change is making precipitation events more severe due to the increased capacity of warmer air to hold moisture, leading to more substantial rainfall. This rainfall can overwhelm the land, resulting in devastating floods. Therefore, attributions of flooding to HAARP rather than to climate change present a misleading narrative about the origins of increased flooding. HAARP’s operations are not secretive; its scientists publicly share updates about its experiments, primarily aimed at understanding the ionosphere’s dynamics. The ionosphere starts at altitudes of roughly 64 kilometers (40 miles) above sea level, while weather phenomena typically occur in the troposphere, which extends to about 10 kilometers (6 miles). Furthermore, the radio frequencies employed by HAARP do not interact with the lower atmospheric layers essential for weather formation. Indeed, the facility’s ability is restricted to the ionosphere, and it lacks the capability to cause meteorological changes at lower altitudes. Consequently, the claims of weather manipulation attributed to HAARP do not withstand scientific scrutiny. Recent flooding incidents exemplify the impact of climate change, which significantly enhances the severity and frequency of extreme precipitation events. As suggested by climate models and empirical studies, the likelihood of extreme weather events increases as global temperatures rise. Research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) supports the notion that human-induced climate change is a central driver of intensifying heavy precipitation globally. These floods, often linked to HAARP by conspiracy theorists, actually result from anomalously high rainfall patterns amplified by climate-related factors, misrepresenting the scientific understanding of flood causation. Understanding the true drivers of such events is critical for fostering informed discussions surrounding climate change and its real implications on weather extremes.
The HAARP facility, operational since the 1990s, has been at the center of numerous conspiracy theories alleging that it can manipulate weather patterns. These theories have gained traction in the digital age, particularly during incidences of severe weather phenomena, such as floods. Climate change, driven primarily by human activities, is recognized by the scientific community as a major factor exacerbating the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, particularly heavy rainfall that leads to floods. Recognizing the distinction between natural climatic changes and faulty claims about technological weather manipulation is essential to combat misinformation.
The evidence clearly indicates that claims regarding HAARP’s ability to manipulate weather are baseless. The facility is dedicated to the study of the ionosphere and lacks the technical capability to influence weather patterns or cause floods. The increasing severity of flooding events is attributable to climate change, which enhances the conditions for extreme precipitation. Misinformation attributing these phenomena to HAARP obscures the important and urgent discussion about climate change and its consequences for natural disasters.
Original Source: science.feedback.org
