Fact File: Experts douse viral claim that wildfires caused by ‘weather manipulation’

A viral X post claims that wildfires are the result of "technocratic elites" manipulating the weather. Experts, however, debunk this conspiracy theory. The post, featuring a video of wildfires in France, has garnered hundreds of thousands of views and has been shared widely. Noah B. Price, the X user behind the post, alleges that a group of global elites intentionally starts wildfires by employing methods like "weather manipulation," "directed energy," "cloud seeding," and "geoengineering."

Nevertheless, experts interviewed by The Canadian Press dispute these claims. They explain that climate change, driven by carbon dioxide emissions, is causing drought conditions in western North America and Europe, making the environment more susceptible to wildfires. Phil Austin, an earth science professor, asserts that cloud seeding and geoengineering remain experimental and small-scale, and have no proven impact on increasing fire risks.

Neil Craik, an environmental law professor, clarifies that the term "geoengineering" is often misconstrued and refers primarily to carbon dioxide removal and stratospheric aerosol injection. Both experts agree that cloud seeding is impractical for causing wildfires due to the extreme difficulty in applying it under the right conditions.