The Tragedy of Weaponized Hurricane Conspiracy Theories

Why?

Because a secret, unproven plot by the government to control the weather has no obvious or tangible solutions. What's the net effect from getting the public to believe the government is the problem rather than fossil fuel companies? You get the public shadowboxing against abstract enemies with no names or addresses or any way to actually do anything tangible, which renders all their activism and "awareness raising" not only useless, but sometimes actively harmful.

Activism that's completely ineffective and directed at fake problems with no solutions is the same as supporting the status quo.

The blatantly obvious problem of fossil fuels does have clear solutions and the true culprits for this crime have names and addresses and can be stopped. But teaching people to hate everything to do with the federal government and hate any legislation that might reign in these criminals obviously works to benefit those criminals.

For those who love a good conspiracy, you should love this:

For decades, ExxonMobil, Shell, and their ilk knew full well that their products were contributing to the destruction of the planet.

Internal documents from the 1970s and 80s show they understood the science of climate change, predicting with chilling accuracy the rising global temperatures, sea level increases, and extreme weather patterns we’re witnessing today. Instead of sounding the alarm, these corporations funded disinformation campaigns, casting doubt on climate science and deflecting attention towards individual "carbon footprints," the sun, hoax theories and just about every talking point you will hear in the comments of most climate-related articles.

Now, with the climate crisis impossible to ignore, these companies find new allies in conspiracy theorists who claim the government is controlling the weather. This serves the interests of the fossil fuel industry by turning people's attention to an imagined external threat, conveniently sidestepping the responsibility they bear for the warming of our oceans and atmosphere—both of which fuel the intensity of hurricanes.

We must not allow ourselves to be distracted by speculative, unproven and debatable stories about government weather manipulation that let the corporate criminals staring us in the face off the hook.

The real conspiracy, which is documented fact and hidden in plain sight, is the fossil fuel industry's role in the destruction of our climate and their decades-long public relations campaign to deny what their own scientists knew 50 years ago.

Objection: Cloudseeding

While it’s true that cloud seeding has been explored for decades—mainly to enhance rainfall or reduce hail—its impact remains localized. Today, about 50 countries use cloud seeding, yet its results are often unpredictable, and it cannot control weather at a meaningful scale.

The idea of creating or sustaining a hurricane is far beyond any man-made technology. A mature hurricane releases an immense amount of energy, approximately equivalent to 10,000 nuclear bombs over its lifespan. This power comes from the condensation of water vapor, driven by heat from vast areas of warm ocean water—typically over hundreds or thousands of square miles.

NASA estimates that the energy released through cloud and rain formation in a hurricane equals 200 times the world’s electrical generating capacity at any moment. Hurricanes act as heat engines, converting the latent heat of condensation into kinetic energy, which powers the storm’s winds and maintains the system's structure. The scale of energy involved makes it impossible to replicate artificially, as it would require harnessing forces spanning oceanic and atmospheric systems across an entire region.​

Even if we attempted to interfere with a storm (for example, with explosives or seeding), the sheer size, energy, and interconnected nature of atmospheric systems make such efforts impractical. Thus, the creation and control of hurricanes lie firmly outside the realm of human capability, not only due to the energy involved but also because such processes require the natural synergy of planetary systems that no technology can replicate.

Tim Hjersted is the director and co-founder of Films For Action, an online library for people who want to change the world. He lives in Lawrence, KS.