DeSantis compares weather control theory to climate change affecting hurricanes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday wrote off suggestions that the government could control the weather — and likened it to theories that global warming can increase the intensity of hurricanes.

“This is on both sides,” DeSantis said. “You kind of have some people think government can do this, and others think it’s all because of fossil fuels. The reality is what we see, there’s precedent for all this in history. It is hurricane season, you are going to have tropical weather.”

The idea that the government is controlling weather, and sending hurricanes to targeted locations, has spread among social media in recent weeks. President Joe Biden has called it a “stupid” claim and refuted it. Experts have called the idea nonsensical, saying that hurricane modification was tested in the past but was ineffective due to the overwhelming size and power of the storms.

But many scientists and scientific organizations agree that storms have the potential to get stronger because of the warming climate.

At a Thursday news conference, DeSantis compared Milton to other historical storms. He said the Labor Day hurricane in the 1930s was the most powerful hurricane Florida has seen since the 1850s.

“There’s nothing new under the sun,” DeSantis said. “These are natural occurrences, we will deal with tropical weather for as long as we’re Floridians.”

DeSantis’ press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, posted on X that DeSantis’ statement was correct, and there was “no evidence for more intense hurricanes.” Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ communications director, said the “government-controls-the-weather crowd” and “climate change alarmists” were two sides of the same coin — “agenda-motivated, & unhelpful following a storm.”

A recent study from the World Weather Attribution, a consortium of researchers, found that Hurricane Helene dumped more rain than a similar storm would have in a cooler climate. Those scientists warned that burning fossil fuel will lead to more hurricanes with strong inland floods.

And though many scientists push back on the idea that climate change causes hurricanes, they largely agree that the warming climate could likely lead to stronger hurricane effects, including higher storm surge, more extreme rainfall and more rapid intensification.

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