In the world of conspiracy theories, few ideas are as convincingly strange as the idea that hurricanes are manufactured weapons unleashed by the government to cause chaos.

But here we are.

With hurricane season It is expected to last until December.Understanding the science and debunking dangerous misinformation is likely to continue. He Atlantic hurricane of 2024 This season alone has already seen intense storms with damage to the hundreds of billionsand experts warn that late hurricanes could continue to be a serious threat to vulnerable communities.

Everyone knows that the power behind an average Atlantic hurricane is no small feat, yet for some, it’s easier to imagine government interference than nature causing chaos. To put it in perspective, a hurricane releases about 5 x 10¹⁹ joules of energy per day, an amount roughly 200 times the world’s total daily electricity production, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That’s 50 quintillion joules, enough to power 9.64 trillion 60-watt light bulbs for a day straight or stream 198 trillion one-hour sessions of conspiracy theorists. Alex Jones Information Wars on a standard 70-watt laptop, according to a highly accurate Reckon analysis. For the record, that’s 22.6 million years of Info Wars broadcast.

On October 9, Jones used hurricane activity as a sign of government tyrannyclaiming that hurricanes Helene and Milton were engineered by programs such as the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program. (HAARP) destroy Republican-leaning areas before the elections and steal lithium deposits under people’s houses in North Carolina. US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote in X that “they” can control the weather. “It’s ridiculous for someone to lie and say it can’t be done,” he added.

It follows that FEMA had executed runs out of money after giving it to undocumented immigrants and only provides humanitarian aid in the form of loans. The federal agency quickly debunked the claimswarning that such misinformation could erode public trust in official guidance during disasters and confuse people in need. ​

HAARP’s missionFar from making hurricanes, it is studying the part of the atmosphere that affects radio and satellite signals. The project began in 1993, but the US Air Force turned it over to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2015. So there is no government control there.

But what would it really take to create a hurricane?

Aside from the unimaginable energy requirements to keep a hurricane moving, it would also mean creating the perfect large-scale conditions for one to form, such as Prof. Kerry Emanuela renowned MIT meteorologist told Reckon.

“They would need a warm ocean, an atmosphere that is not too warm and still at different altitudes up to about 10 miles,” he said, noting that while these conditions often line up naturally during hurricane season, they are currently impossible to replicate. “Then they would need a way to destroy the wind shear in the atmosphere so that the hurricane could form.”

wind shear It is the change in wind speed or direction at different altitudes. It often prevents storms from becoming hurricanes and can even weaken fully formed ones. Wind shear arrives everywhereincluding high-altitude jet streams, low- and high-pressure systems, and interactions with coastal or mountainous terrain to alter hurricane structure.

But that’s not even the most challenging part.

For those who believe that a hurricane can be “steered” to achieve a specific target, Emanuel is blunt: “The amount of technology and energy that would be needed to achieve this is truly colossal and unimaginable. Without that, nothing you can do will create a hurricane.”

But science fiction about hurricane control is born from the decades old science cloud seeding.

Cloud seeding occurs when planes or rockets disperse particles such as silver iodide into clouds to encourage rain. has been used since the 1940s. Initially discovered by General Electric scientists The use of dry ice is a popular method of stimulating rainfall in drought-prone areas such as Idaho and Colorado. Even China used cloud seeding to ensure Clear skies during the 2008 Beijing Olympicsa practice they rely on to manage air quality and rainfall patterns.

Scientists have recently explored solar geoengineering using stratospheric aerosol injection (EFS) techniques. The approach releases particles such as sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, mimicking a cooling effect. However, these methods aim to mitigate climate change rather than control weather events.

However, there have been government attempts to control hurricanes.

“Scientists going back to the 1960s tried to find ways to prevent hurricanes or reduce their power,” Professor Emanuel said, referring to Storm Fury Projectwhich lasted two decades and finally ended in 1983 with an unsurprising result. “The results were not completely conclusive.”

“Even with modern theories, it wouldn’t work if you tried 1,000 times,” he added.