Television meteorologists say they have become hate figures for conspiracy theorists who have been responding with death threats to their life-saving advice.
And the combination of two fierce hurricanes and an overheated election race has created a perfect storm of abuse from people who believe the damage is deliberate.
Some claim the fury has been fueled by prominent figures online, including far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, who insisted they “can control the weather” as Hurricane Milton began approaching on Sunday.
WLNS morning meteorologist Katie Nickolaou is among those who have received a barrage of threatening messages after attempting to debunk the theories.
“Murdering meteorologists won’t stop hurricanes,” he tweeted. “I can’t believe I had to write that.”
WLNS morning meteorologist Katie Nickolaou is among those who have received a barrage of threatening messages after attempting to debunk conspiracy theories.
Hundreds of lives have been lost after two of the most damaging hurricanes in the country’s history made landfall in quick succession on the south coast.
Social media went into overdrive this week when a relatively quiet hurricane season was brutally upended by two of the most damaging hurricanes in the country’s history.
More than 220 people died when Hurricane Helene devastated Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas late last month.
Milton’s death toll was known to have reached double figures just hours after the Category 3 hurricane made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, late Wednesday night.
Some suggested that the storm was engineered as part of a government land grab program.
Others, including Taylor-Greene, seemed to suggest that the storm was deliberately targeting red-leaning counties in an attempt to harm Republican election efforts.
“Seemingly overnight, ideas that would once have been derided as very fringe and outlandish views are suddenly becoming mainstream and are making my job much more difficult,” said meteorologist Matthew Cappucci. Rolling stone.
«The average life cycle of a hurricane consumes the energy of about 10,000 nuclear bombs.
“The idea that we could influence something like this, much less direct it, is so far-fetched that, sadly, it’s almost funny.”
TikTok has become a breeding ground for conspiracies, with nearly two million viewers watching a video claiming Helene was sent to North Carolina to clear the area for lithium mining.
“Let’s be clear: Hurricane Helene was a weather-modified storm to displace residents of Western North Carolina for land grabs,” states a video with more than 100,000 views.
Veteran WBMA-LD forecaster James Spann took to social media himself after being “inundated” with claims that four more hurricanes are being “headed” toward Florida.
He received even more abuse after detailing some of the claims on Facebook.
Millions of people have seen claims on social media that the disasters were deliberately engineered.
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci said that “people are coming together across these fringe views.”
Another 500,000 clicked on a poster’s theory that the storm was caused by “cloud seeding gone wrong.”
Veteran WBMA-LD forecaster James Spann took to social media himself after being “inundated” with claims that four more hurricanes are being “headed” toward Florida this month and that the moon has disappeared.
“Stop lying about the government controlling the climate or not,” one told him.
‘Can you just keep it off this page?’ the Alabama meteorologist asked his followers on his Facebook page as Milton approached.
“I’m trying to disseminate critical weather information in a calm manner. Their rhetoric is a huge distraction that we don’t need right now.”
But she soon deleted the post after a torrent of abuse.
“It is clear that we live in a society full of hate, anger, rage and the inability to think critically,” he said.
“I’ve been doing this for 46 years and it’s never been like this.”
Meteorologists have been embroiled in culture war skirmishes for years as arguments over climate change have become more politically charged.
Chris Gloninger, chief meteorologist at KCCI Channel 8 News in Iowa, quit his job and went into hiding last year after his on-air mentions of the topic sparked death threats against him and his wife.
But the proximity of the elections has turned meteorologists into lightning rods for discontent.
“The 2024 misinformation is being fueled to some extent by political polarization,” said Professor Sarah DeYoung of the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center.
“I think that corresponds with the presidential election being held this year.”
Taylor Green, who previously blamed “space lasers” for starting wildfires in California, earned a rebuke from her Republican colleagues after suggesting the government was to blame for the hurricanes.
“Yes, they can control the weather,” the Georgia congresswoman tweeted. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and suggest it can’t be done.”
Chris Gloninger of KCCI Channel 8 News in Iowa quit his job and went into hiding last year after his on-air mentions of the issue sparked death threats against him and his wife.
Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has been criticized by her colleagues for amplifying claims that the hurricanes could have been prevented.
Fellow Republican Carlos Gimenez suggested he should “get his head examined,” and President Biden said conspiracy theories are getting “even stranger.”
‘Are we controlling the climate? It’s beyond ridiculous. It has to stop,’ he said.
Cappucci has also been told that space lasers are causing climate disasters.
“Ignorance is becoming socially acceptable,” he said.
‘Forty or fifty years ago, if I had told you that I thought the moon was fake, people would have laughed at me. Now, people are coming together over these incredibly marginal points of view.
“For me to publish a hurricane forecast and have people accuse me of creating the hurricane by working for some secret Illuminati entity is disappointing and distressing.”
“Science is one of the few things that doesn’t care about politics,” he added.
“If a tornado is coming your way, you don’t check your voter registration.”