A climate scientist puts to rest a popular conspiracy theory that frequently raises its ugly head after significant flooding events.
Dr. Doug McNeall's comments on a conspiracy theory about flooding posted on TikTok have received nearly 8,000 likes and generated around 300 comments.
In his video, the University of Exeter's McNeall clearly and calmly speaks to the "dangerous misinformation" that frequently spreads after a catastrophic flooding event, like the one that struck Valencia, Spain, in October.
@dougmcneall #stitch with @Kela cloud seeding can't cause the types of flash flooding events we saw in spain. #climate #flooding #valencia #cloudseeding #climatechange ♬ original sound - Dr. Doug McNeall
"There is no way that cloud seeding caused the floods in Valencia," McNeall said in his video. "If cloud seeding is used, it's only ever in areas which are extremely arid, in order to eke out a tiny bit of rain, which might be available in wispy clouds."
McNeall goes on to say, "There is very little evidence that cloud seeding actually works." He also said, "That's just not physically possible," when explaining that such significant volumes of water could not be created by this method.
World Weather Attribution believes an overheating planet takes a big part of the blame for Spain's flooding.
"In summary, over the past ~75 years, daily rainfall extremes in the September-December season in central and southeastern Spain have increased significantly with global warming, approximately doubling in likelihood and equivalently increasing in intensity by 12%," concluded the organization's analysis of the Valencia flood.
That event took the lives of over 200 people and required the rescue of another 4,500. The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, declared the city a "disaster zone" after what scientists say was a one-in-20-year event that dumped torrential rain in the region.
A week of rain from late October into early November last year produced deadly flooding. A foot of rain was reported in parts of Valencia on one day alone, and large portions of Spain saw nearly 15 inches in total.
The majority of the nearly 300 comments about the post were in support of Dr. McNeall's explanation of why cloud seeding was not to blame for Spain's flood.
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Definitely 💯 Someone who heard the same conspiracy theories after catastrophic floods ravaged the southern Appalachians last fall could relate to Dr. McNeall's post.
"Just commenting from North Carolina after the same conspiracy theory ran rampant after Helene," said Shawn. That tragedy led to a Republican congressman calling out someone from his own party who made an "outrageous" claim about controlling the weather.
Another person commended Dr. McNeall for setting the record straight. "It's always refreshing to see experts adding their point of view … too many non-experts with high confidence and loud voices can mislead people!"
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