Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
CLAIMS THAT TRAILS of condensation left in the sky after airplanes pass show that the government is intentionally modifying the climate are baseless.
The then-Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Jack Chambers was questioned about it in the Seanad last week, where he confirmed that Met Éireann has not conducted such weather modification, nor do they know of any such tests in Irish airspace.
“This is Not a Conspiracy Theory any more,” one former National Party local candidate wrote on Facebook next to photos of streaky clouds in the sky. “It is without a doubt that the Irish Aviation Authority is approving this. It is obviously trying to blot out the Sun.”
“These white stripes are not natural clouds,” another Irish social media user wrote. “This is solar geoengineering,”
One Instagram account with more than 7,500 followers features more than 1,860 posts, almost all of which consist of conspiracy theories about condensation trails, including claims that the government is trying to modify the weather, but also iterations of the “chemtrail” conspiracy theory, which states that secretive powers are spraying people with nefarious substances through commercial airplane trails.
Many versions of this theory have been debunked, though new iterations appear frequently.
The original theories were spread in the United States in the 1990s and were often speculated to be about weather modification, though many also theorised that it was a government programme to test out poisons or deliver a chemical agent to their own populations — though, as experts have pointed out, dumping aerosolised chemicals kilometres from a target would be an incredibly ineffective, and remarkably visible, way of doing so.
However, accusations of weather modification from planes are not so readily dismissable. The only current attempt at weather modification, cloud seeding, does involve releasing silver iodide (Agl), a harmless and naturally occurring substance, from airplanes in the hope of producing raindrops (it’s efficacy, however, is questionable).
Clouds themselves can have significant effects on surface temperature, with one NASA study estimating that they generally cool the earth’s surface by about 5 degrees celsius.
So could a chemical sprayed by airplanes be used to create clouds and thereby change the weather? In theory, yes, though there is no evidence that this has been done over Ireland.
Last year, the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors released a scoping paper on the possibility of using this technology, a version of Solar Radiation Modification, or SRM.
However, the paper itself largely deals with the limitations of the technology, including legal restrictions.
“SRM does not reverse climate change and it could cause unintended climate changes (warming or excessive cooling), regional precipitation changes, harm the ozone layer, and impact human health and well-being,“ the paper warns. “Sudden and sustained termination of SRM (in particular SAI) would cause rapid climate change”
It continues: “The EU does not consider SRM as a solution, as it does not address the root cause of the problem, which is the increase in greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Even if technically feasible and proven safe, it would provide only a temporary relief, not a cure.
“In the current state of development, SRM deployment represents an unacceptable risk for humans and the environment.”
The paper asks that an investigation into “the risks and opportunities associated with research on Solar Radiation Modification and with its potential deployment” as well as how it should be governed, be completed in the third quarter of this year.
So, it seems that the EU is not ready to experiment with this technology. However, this paper does appear to have renewed interest in the subject of climate modification, and a steady stream of Irish social media posts speculating about it has been observed.
So, has Ireland begun experiments on its own?
This question was put to the then-Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Jack Chambers, last Thursday, by Senator Sharon Keogan, who said of her fellow senators “each and every one of us get emails daily on this particular issue.”
However, Chambers was able to provide the Seanad with a succinct response: “Met Éireann confirms that it has not conducted any climate or weather modification programmes and it is not aware of any such activities in Irish airspace.”
The Journal’s FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles. You can read it here. For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader’s Guide here. You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here.
Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new
FactCheck Knowledge Bank
for guides and toolkits
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions.
We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support.
Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone.
FactCheck
The Journal's monthly FactCheck newsletter keeps you in the loop about what misinformation trends Ireland is experiencing - and how we're fighting back. Sign up here
'A stain on society': Homelessness hits another record of 15,286 people in emergency accommodation
Updated
21 mins ago
3.9k
Fighter Planes
Simon Harris is 'convinced' that Ireland needs its own squadron of fighter jets
Niall O'Connor
Reports from The Curragh Camp
5 mins ago
17
New Mexico
Police 'keeping everything on the table' in deaths of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa
Updated
17 hrs ago
103k
78
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 153 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 105 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 137 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 79 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 38 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 34 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 39 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 87 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 97 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 69 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 51 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 85 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 65 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say