Biologist debunks dangerous hurricane conspiracy theory: 'It's decades of research'

A wildlife biologist, Julia (@juliusfootsteps), took to TikTok to debunk misinformation about the cause of increasingly intense hurricanes.

"In the 1980s, scientists found that warmer ocean temperatures were going to intensify hurricanes, which is what we're seeing today," the biologist stated. "This is not some conspiracy theory, but it's decades of research from highly credible scientists."

@juliasfootsteps 🚨 Humans are changing the weather, BUT it's not from cloud seeding. Climate change has led to the warming of our oceans (and many other changes) that have led to the intensification of hurricanes. Misinformation surrounding this topic is incredibly insensitve, inappropriate, and honestly silly #climatechange #environment 🌱#greenscreen ♬ original sound - julia🦎🌿🌍🐚🐛

The conspiracy theory circulating, addressed here by FactCheck.org, was that humans control the weather through cloud seeding, a technique (explained here by the BBC) that manipulates existing clouds to help produce more rain. In the false theory, also debunked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it's believed that "the government is engaging in activities like cloud seeding to modify the weather" and bring on more hurricanes to induce fear about the climate.

"NOAA does not fund or participate in cloud seeding or other weather modification projects," NOAA stated. "Cloud seeding is the only common weather modification activity currently practiced in the United States — typically by private companies in western mountain basins in winter in order to help generate snow in specific locations, or in the desert southwest to replenish water reservoirs in summer."

According to Julia, hurricanes need a few ingredients. One of those is high water temperatures reaching higher than 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit). Throughout the past decades, the oceans have become a lot warmer, especially in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The Gulf of Mexico is warming at twice the rate compared to our global oceans," she said. Further, she specified how dangerous it is to spread misinformation of this kind online, as it can create distrust of science that has studied the phenomena of warming oceans for decades.

Watch now: Giant snails invading New York City?

One commenter on the video revealed, "I got concerned for a second," as the beginning of the video did state that humans are controlling the weather. However, instead of controlling the weather through faulty claims of cloud seeding to induce hurricanes, humans are doing so through inducing climate change by pollution.

There are ways to mitigate hurricanes through reducing ocean temperatures. The most effective would be limiting planet-harming pollution that generates heat to be absorbed by the ocean.

To start small on an individual scale, limiting your energy consumption to save money and the environment could make a difference. One study found that reducing the heat in your home by just one degree can reduce your energy consumption by a whopping 8%, according to Carbon Footprint.

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