Claim: Chem trails are real

Question

Is it true that chemtrails are real because the White House Office of Science and Technology is pushing ahead research on methods to mitigate global warming through methods like stratospheric aerosol injection?

Answer 1

While it’s true that the White House has prioritized this research, it is with the stated goal of reducing global warming and further, experts say the aerosol injection technology discussed is not currently in use. 

“Currently nobody is doing this,” said Ben Kravitz, professor of earth and atmosphere science at India University. “The amount of aerosol one would need to put in the stratosphere to noticeably change the climate is on the order of millions of tons. If someone were doing that, everyone would know.” 

Chemtrails have long been a popular idea amongst conspiracy theorists, and a recent peer-reviewed study’s results show that 76 out of 77 (98.7%) of scientists that took part in this study said there was no evidence of a SLAP (secret large-scale atmospheric program), and that the data cited as evidence could be explained through other factors, such as typical contrail formation and poor data sampling instructions presented on SLAP websites.

Misinformation

Sources:

https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-white-house-research-aerosol-injection-chemtrails-110164565739

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/8/084011#fnref-erlaa34f6bib2

https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/legal/

Comments

This is a great fact-check. You provided a clear explanation, sources, a rating, and even a quote from an expert in the field.

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I agree with your findings! You did a great job fact checking. You shared a good amount of background information; you shared great sources that are very reliable, and you shared how the claim is wrong and misinforming the reader.

Answer 2

 Contrails are the vapor and soot particles left behind by jet fueled airplanes and other airborne vehicles. This claim however refers to a conspiracy of Chemtrails, that the government is releasing aerosols and other chemicals into the atmosphere. There is no evidence supporting this is in practice and research done on the idea of stratospheric aerosol injections do not support the claim that this is going to be used by the US government to mitigate global warming in the near future.

“Moderate and large volcanic eruptions that result in large increases in stratospheric aerosol decrease surface temperatures for an extended period of time (16), demonstrating that, in principle, stratospheric CI is a viable technique. Although the effectiveness, potential benefits, and risks of stratospheric CI have not been studied extensively enough to thoroughly evaluate SAI proposals, even less effort has been put into the practical aspects of aerosol injection.” (ScienceAdviser)

Chemtrails: What's the truth behind the conspiracy theory? - BBC News

White lines coming from planes aren’t evidence of ‘chemtrails’ – Full Fact

Toward practical stratospheric aerosol albedo modification: Solar-powered lofting | Science Advances

Additional work on SAI that I found interesting:

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RErgCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT16&dq=National+Academy+of+Sciences+2015+Climate+Intervention:+Reflecting+Sunlight+to+Cool+Earth+(Washington+DC:+The+National+Academies+Press)&ots=_3jYnREWH