Latest news with #chemtrails
Forbes
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
The ‘Chemtrails' That Should Worry Us
BERLIN - FEBRUARY 07: An vehicle's exhaust pipe releases fumes on February 7, 2007 in Berlin, ... More Germany. The European Commission announced new carbon dioxide (CO2) targets for car makers which the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said it could not agree with, stating they are "unbalanced and damaging to the European economy in terms of wealth, employment and growth potential." (Photo by) Getty Images I recently wrote a piece debunking weather conspiracy theories. One of the featured topics was 'chemtrails.' Some people believe condensation trails ("contrails") coming out of airplanes are chemtrails being used to control the climate, our minds, or whatever. In that article, I explained what contrails are and pointed to scholarly evidence refuting 'chemtrail' narratives. However, a follower on one of my social media platforms made a great point. 'Chemtrails' that we should be concerned about are right in front of us everyday - exhaust from cars. LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 12: Two commercial airliners appear to fly close together as the pass over ... More London on March 12, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by) Getty Images According to a National Weather Service website, contrails are, 'Cloud-like streamers frequently observed to form behind aircraft flying in clear, cold, humid air.' They can be formed by water vapor that overcomes combustion heat or from aerodynamic pressure reduction from air flow around wing tips or propellors. Yes, I know this is not a perfect analogy, but on a cold day, our breath produces something similar to a contrail. TORONTO, ON - February 3 - The breath of a worker on Yonge St. can be seen in the air on a bitterly ... More cold day in Toronto. Lance McMillan/Toronto StarFebruary-3-2023 (Photo by Lance McMillan/Toronto Star via Getty Images) Toronto Star via Getty Images So what's in the exhaust fumes from an automobile? Most cars emit a chemical stew of things. Carbon dioxide, though non-toxic, is a primary contributor to climate warming and ocean acidification. Carbon monoxide is quite toxic, but new engines produce less of it than older cars. It can also interact with other constituents in the atmosphere to affect certain greenhouse gases like methane or ozone. Nitrogen oxides are inherent to most combustion engines and are contributors to photochemical smog. Sulfur dioxide can also contribute to air pollution. Other ingredients in the exhaust pipe 'stew' include hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and benzene. FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2009 file photo, cars give off exhaust fumes in Montpelier, Vt. The state of ... More Vermont is reaping the benefit of national clean air policies. The Environmental Protection Agency recently reported Vermont hasn't had what it defines as a bad-air day in more than two years. Vermont officials say the state's last unhealthy air day was in July 2011. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File) Copyright 2009 AP. All rights reserved. Diesel engines may actually emit small particles of metal and black soot. Laurence Allan wrote, 'Modern cars are fitted with diesel particulate filters (DPFs) to reduce the number of harmful particles being pumped out into the atmosphere.' Particulate matter can cause or amplify certain health ailments. FILE - Smog lingers over the city overlooking the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles as seen from ... More Signal Hill, Calif., on Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File) Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved The EPA website noted, "The Clean Air Act, which was last amended in 1990, requires EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (40 CFR part 50) for six principal pollutants ("criteria" air pollutants) which can be harmful to public health and the environment." These pollutants are carbon monoxide, lead, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particule pollution. Government regulations and recent trends in alternative energy transition have led to cleaner air. Clean Air Acts and EPA regulation have produced progress on cleaner air since 1990. EPA As for carbon dioxide, an EPA website pointed out the following facts: The average passenger car emits roughly 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The average passenger car emits aroud 400 grams of carbon dioxide per mile. Carbon dioxide emissions from one gallon of gasoline is 8,887 grams CO2. It is even slightly higher for diesel. Carbon dioxide values continue to rise globally, and climate continues to change, naturally and through these anthropogenic contributions. Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide. NOAA
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Trump officials address ‘chemtrails' conspiracy theories while spreading misinformation, experts say
Trump officials' recent attempt to dispel concerns about 'chemtrails' has perplexed and angered some experts who say the administration has itself promoted the conspiracy theory while also spreading climate misinformation. 'This is an intriguing strategy … in an administration that, depending on agency, is actively promulgating conspiracy theories or at least conspiratorial thinking,' said Timothy Tangherlini, a professor at the Berkeley School of Information who studies the circulation of folklore and conspiracy theories. On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a website about contrails, trails of white vapor emitted aircrafts. Conspiracy theorists call the streaks 'chemtrails' and believe they contain polluting chemicals meant to achieve mass sterilization, weather control or other nefarious plots. Though 'it is reasonable to ask questions', those beliefs are inaccurate, the page makes clear. Officials also launched a second webpage focused on geoengineering, which correctly notes that schemes to 'cool the Earth by intentionally modifying the amount of sunlight' are 'being studied'. It says 'current federal research activity should not be interpreted as endorsement', though without explicitly stating that these efforts have not been widely practiced. The websites were published as baseless rumors swirled claiming weather-altering technology fueled recent catastrophic flooding in Texas. The EPA, however, says it 'planned long ago to release these new online resources' which it had been 'working on for months'. 'Regarding the flooding, EPA stands ready to help Texans get back on their feet in the wake of this tragedy,' a spokesperson said. Sijia Xiao, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who for a 2021 study interviewed 20 current and former chemtrails believers, said the conspiracy theory attracts many people looking for simple explanations to tragedies. 'Several participants in my interviews, they related chemtrails to their personal health problems or environmental concerns like pollution,' she said. 'And in this example of the Texas flood, I think people are trying to attribute a clear cause to a real life issue.' But as it addresses false causes of the floods, Trump has continually shunned research into the climate crisis, which he has dismissed as a 'hoax'. Research shows the deluge in the US south-west would have been less intense if not for the climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. 'Rather than addressing climate change – which makes floods like those in Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Illinois more intense, more deadly and more frequent – Trump's EPA is wasting taxpayer money chasing baseless conspiracy theories that scientists debunked years ago,' said the Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a climate hawk. 'It's a distraction from the Trump administration's free pass to big oil on its pollution.' Since Trump re-entered the White House in January, EPA has slashed funding for climate research, removed all mentions of climate from federal websites, and cut staff for weather forecasting and scientific agencies. He has also cracked down on climate accountability efforts, including lawsuits accusing big oil of a conspiracy to spread climate misinformation. The president has also repeatedly referred to green regulations as a 'scam' and repeated climate denialist talking points, while his administration has spread misinformation about elections and vaccines. As recently as two months ago, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump's health and human services secretary, also suggested that the chemtrail conspiracy theory is real, saying in a televised town hall he would 'do everything in my power to stop' their spread. Even after Zeldin announced the new initiative, Kennedy appeared to maintain his position, praising the administrator and Trump for taking on the 'diabolical mass poisoning of our people, our communities, our waterways and farms, and our purple mountains, majesty'. 'It's all contributing to this environment, this idea that you should have low trust in institutions,' said Tangherlini, the folklore expert. 'And when you have low trust in institutions and in the information sources that you have access to, you are going to come up with a plausible story that resonates.' Some have been able to integrate the new EPA websites into those stories, claiming they merely provide evidence that the government is continuing to cover up information about chemtrails. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. 'Conspiracy theory is a self-fulfilling feedback loop where everything can be turned into evidence of supporting their beliefs,' said Xiao. Though the chemtrail belief is not based in reality, real conspiracies have existed through American history, said Tangherlini, including ones that involved the cover-up of covertly sprayed chemicals. Today, the Trump administration is openly dismantling protections against toxic and planet-warming pollutants, allowing corporations to truly conspire against the American people, said Aaron Regunberg, climate accountability project director at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. 'Just like big tobacco lied about cigarettes causing cancer, big oil has spent decades running a vast conspiracy to deceive the public on climate change,' he said. 'That's why Maga [Trump's Make America Great Again movement] wants us talking about this chemtrails garbage – because there's a real conspiracy implicating their big oil cronies that they don't want the American people to think about.'
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Trump officials address ‘chemtrails' conspiracy theories while spreading misinformation, experts say
Trump officials' recent attempt to dispel concerns about 'chemtrails' has perplexed and angered some experts who say the administration has itself promoted the conspiracy theory while also spreading climate misinformation. 'This is an intriguing strategy … in an administration that, depending on agency, is actively promulgating conspiracy theories or at least conspiratorial thinking,' said Timothy Tangherlini, a professor at the Berkeley School of Information who studies the circulation of folklore and conspiracy theories. On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a website about contrails, trails of white vapor emitted aircrafts. Conspiracy theorists call the streaks 'chemtrails' and believe they contain polluting chemicals meant to achieve mass sterilization, weather control or other nefarious plots. Though 'it is reasonable to ask questions', those beliefs are inaccurate, the page makes clear. Officials also launched a second webpage focused on geoengineering, which correctly notes that schemes to 'cool the Earth by intentionally modifying the amount of sunlight' are 'being studied'. It says 'current federal research activity should not be interpreted as endorsement', though without explicitly stating that these efforts have not been widely practiced. The websites were published as baseless rumors swirled claiming weather-altering technology fueled recent catastrophic flooding in Texas. The EPA, however, says it 'planned long ago to release these new online resources' which it had been 'working on for months'. 'Regarding the flooding, EPA stands ready to help Texans get back on their feet in the wake of this tragedy,' a spokesperson said. Sijia Xiao, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who for a 2021 study interviewed 20 current and former chemtrails believers, said the conspiracy theory attracts many people looking for simple explanations to tragedies. 'Several participants in my interviews, they related chemtrails to their personal health problems or environmental concerns like pollution,' she said. 'And in this example of the Texas flood, I think people are trying to attribute a clear cause to a real life issue.' But as it addresses false causes of the floods, Trump has continually shunned research into the climate crisis, which he has dismissed as a 'hoax'. Research shows the deluge in the US south-west would have been less intense if not for the climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. 'Rather than addressing climate change – which makes floods like those in Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Illinois more intense, more deadly and more frequent – Trump's EPA is wasting taxpayer money chasing baseless conspiracy theories that scientists debunked years ago,' said the Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a climate hawk. 'It's a distraction from the Trump administration's free pass to big oil on its pollution.' Since Trump re-entered the White House in January, EPA has slashed funding for climate research, removed all mentions of climate from federal websites, and cut staff for weather forecasting and scientific agencies. He has also cracked down on climate accountability efforts, including lawsuits accusing big oil of a conspiracy to spread climate misinformation. The president has also repeatedly referred to green regulations as a 'scam' and repeated climate denialist talking points, while his administration has spread misinformation about elections and vaccines. As recently as two months ago, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump's health and human services secretary, also suggested that the chemtrail conspiracy theory is real, saying in a televised town hall he would 'do everything in my power to stop' their spread. Even after Zeldin announced the new initiative, Kennedy appeared to maintain his position, praising the administrator and Trump for taking on the 'diabolical mass poisoning of our people, our communities, our waterways and farms, and our purple mountains, majesty'. 'It's all contributing to this environment, this idea that you should have low trust in institutions,' said Tangherlini, the folklore expert. 'And when you have low trust in institutions and in the information sources that you have access to, you are going to come up with a plausible story that resonates.' Some have been able to integrate the new EPA websites into those stories, claiming they merely provide evidence that the government is continuing to cover up information about chemtrails. 'Conspiracy theory is a self-fulfilling feedback loop where everything can be turned into evidence of supporting their beliefs,' said Xiao. Though the chemtrail belief is not based in reality, real conspiracies have existed through American history, said Tangherlini, including ones that involved the cover-up of covertly sprayed chemicals. Today, the Trump administration is openly dismantling protections against toxic and planet-warming pollutants, allowing corporations to truly conspire against the American people, said Aaron Regunberg, climate accountability project director at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. 'Just like big tobacco lied about cigarettes causing cancer, big oil has spent decades running a vast conspiracy to deceive the public on climate change,' he said. 'That's why Maga [Trump's Make America Great Again movement] wants us talking about this chemtrails garbage – because there's a real conspiracy implicating their big oil cronies that they don't want the American people to think about.'
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Trump officials address ‘chemtrails' conspiracy theories while spreading misinformation, experts say
Trump officials' recent attempt to dispel concerns about 'chemtrails' has perplexed and angered some experts who say the administration has itself promoted the conspiracy theory while also spreading climate misinformation. 'This is an intriguing strategy … in an administration that, depending on agency, is actively promulgating conspiracy theories or at least conspiratorial thinking,' said Timothy Tangherlini, a professor at the Berkeley School of Information who studies the circulation of folklore and conspiracy theories. On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a website about contrails, trails of white vapor emitted aircrafts. Conspiracy theorists call the streaks 'chemtrails' and believe they contain polluting chemicals meant to achieve mass sterilization, weather control or other nefarious plots. Though 'it is reasonable to ask questions', those beliefs are inaccurate, the page makes clear. Officials also launched a second webpage focused on geoengineering, which correctly notes that schemes to 'cool the Earth by intentionally modifying the amount of sunlight' are 'being studied'. It says 'current federal research activity should not be interpreted as endorsement', though without explicitly stating that these efforts have not been widely practiced. The websites were published as baseless rumors swirled claiming weather-altering technology fueled recent catastrophic flooding in Texas. The EPA, however, says it 'planned long ago to release these new online resources' which it had been 'working on for months'. 'Regarding the flooding, EPA stands ready to help Texans get back on their feet in the wake of this tragedy,' a spokesperson said. Sijia Xiao, a postdoctoral researcher at Carnegie Mellon University who for a 2021 study interviewed 20 current and former chemtrails believers, said the conspiracy theory attracts many people looking for simple explanations to tragedies. 'Several participants in my interviews, they related chemtrails to their personal health problems or environmental concerns like pollution,' she said. 'And in this example of the Texas flood, I think people are trying to attribute a clear cause to a real life issue.' But as it addresses false causes of the floods, Trump has continually shunned research into the climate crisis, which he has dismissed as a 'hoax'. Research shows the deluge in the US south-west would have been less intense if not for the climate crisis, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels. 'Rather than addressing climate change – which makes floods like those in Texas, North Carolina, New Mexico, and Illinois more intense, more deadly and more frequent – Trump's EPA is wasting taxpayer money chasing baseless conspiracy theories that scientists debunked years ago,' said the Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a climate hawk. 'It's a distraction from the Trump administration's free pass to Big Oil on its pollution.' Since Trump re-entered the White House in January, EPA has slashed funding for climate research, removed all mentions of climate from federal websites, and cut staff for weather forecasting and scientific agencies. He has also cracked down on climate accountability efforts, including lawsuits accusing big oil of a conspiracy to spread climate misinformation. The president has also repeatedly referred to green regulations as a 'scam' and repeated climate denialist talking points, while his administration has spread misinformation about elections and vaccines. As recently two months ago, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump's health and human services secretary, also suggested that the chemtrail conspiracy theory is real, saying in a televised town hall he will 'do everything in my power to stop' their spread. Even after Zeldin announced the new initiative, Kennedy appeared to maintain his position, praising the administrator and Trump for taking on the 'diabolical mass poisoning of our people, our communities, our waterways and farms, and our purple mountains, majesty'. 'It's all contributing to this environment, this idea that you should have low trust in institutions,' said Tangherlini, the folklore expert. 'And when you have low trust in institutions and in the information sources that you have access to, you are going to come up with a plausible story that resonates.' Some have been able to integrate the new EPA websites into those stories, claiming they merely provide evidence that the government is continuing to cover up information about chemtrails. 'Conspiracy theory is a self-fulfilling feedback loop where everything can be turned into evidence of supporting their beliefs,' said Xiao. Though the chemtrail belief is not based in reality, real conspiracies have existed through American history, said Tangherlini, including ones that involved the cover-up of covertly-sprayed chemicals. Today, the Trump administration is openly dismantling protections against toxic and planet-warming pollutants, allowing corporations to truly conspire against the American people, said Aaron Regunberg, climate accountability project director at consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. 'Just like Big Tobacco lied about cigarettes causing cancer, Big Oil has spent decades running a vast conspiracy to deceive the public on climate change,' he said. 'That's why MAGA wants us talking about this chemtrails garbage – because there's a real conspiracy implicating their Big Oil cronies that they don't want the American people to think about.'
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
No, Chemtrails Are Not Real or Causing Floods, E.P.A. Says
No, chemtrails are not real, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday, in a notable instance of the Trump administration debunking a conspiracy theory that gained traction amid catastrophic flooding in Central Texas. For decades, scientists have sought to shut down the chemtrails conspiracy theory, which asserts that the federal government is spraying harmful chemicals into the sky to control the weather, population or food supply. On Thursday, their efforts got a major boost from an unexpected source: two new E.P.A. websites that seek to 'provide clear, science-based information' on chemtrail claims as well as on geoengineering, or efforts to intentionally alter Earth's climate. The websites generally endorse the scientific consensus, according to scientists who reviewed them. For example, they note that chemtrails are 'often inaccurately' conflated with contrails, or condensation trails, which are the long, thin clouds left by airplanes as water vapor in jet-engine exhaust condenses and freezes. 'I tasked my team at E.P.A. to compile a list of everything we know about contrails and geoengineering for the purpose of releasing it to you now publicly,' the E.P.A. administrator, Lee Zeldin, said in a video posted on social media. 'Instead of simply dismissing these questions and concerns as baseless conspiracies, we're meeting them head on,' Mr. Zeldin said. 'We did the legwork, looked at the science, consulted agency experts and pulled in relevant outside information to put these online resources together.' Neither Mr. Zeldin nor the sites mentioned the baseless assertions that chemtrails or geoengineering had caused the extreme rainfall that led to the recent Texas flash floods that have killed at least 111 people and left at least 173 missing. Representatives for the E.P.A. did not respond to a request for comment about whether Thursday's move was prompted by the floods. Some Trump officials and Republican lawmakers have used their platforms to amplify the chemtrails conspiracy theory. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, has suggested without evidence that the Defense Department's research arm is spraying Americans with harmful chemicals that have been added to jet fuel. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
