For obvious “don’t lump us in with those nuts” reasons, the organized denial network generally avoids chemtrail conspiracy theories. But a Venn diagram of chemtrail kooks and climate deniers is probably pretty close to a circle, and YouTube is a particularly rich source of chemtrail content. (To pull an example from this steaming online trash heap, apparently even the lack of chemtrails is cause for concern, because Hillery [sic] Clinton?)
The theories are all over the place, but the general idea is that something nefarious is going on with those strings of clouds that planes leave behind, and it’s not just geoengineering...
A new study reveals: there is something happening! According to research published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics last week, contrails (the real name for chemtrails) will produce three times more warming by 2050 than they did in 2006. It’s mainly a result of increased air traffic, leading to more of the clouds that cause heat to bounce around the atmosphere instead of escaping into space.
But for those wondering if this seals our warming fate, not to worry. By mid-century, all those extra clouds will add only 160 milliwatts of energy back towards the Earth’s surface, whereas the greenhouse gas emissions at that time will be responsible for radiating 6,000 milliwatts per square meter back into the climate system.
As mentioned, odds are slim that the organized denial network will push this in a crazy direction, though the rank and file base might just try. For example, at WUWT Anthony Watts put a disclaimer on his post of the study’s press release, warning that “any discussion of ‘chemtrails’ in this comment thread will be immediately deleted.”
This is somewhat ironic, given that deniers love to scream and howl about censorship. After all, if the overwhelming majority of science connecting human activities to climate change can be challenged by blog comment, why aren’t chemtrails a fair issue for debate?
Deniers are pretty vocal that the science on climate is never settled, and that if only the mainstream media and academic journal gatekeepers would allow free debate, everyone would see the truth. The consensus was that Galileo was wrong at the time, and we know how that turned out! Isn’t WUWT banning chemtrail talk the same as Big Tech the consensus-loving mainstream media’s “censorship” of climate skeptics?
So why is Watts shutting down any potential chemtrail debate? What’s he trying to hide? Doesn’t he trust all the “skeptics” in his comments to provide cogent and persuasive science-based debunkings of any stray chemtrail comments? If they can debunk the massive climate coverup, why aren’t they capable of rebutting chemtrail conspiracies?
There’s only one logical answer: he is covering for whatever shadowy entity controls the makeup of the condensation coming out of the thousands of jet engines. Probably as part of a convoluted plot to take over the world, or destroy it.
Because it’s obvious chemtrails are evil! Just look at them floating up there, criss crossing down at us condescendingly; zephyrs mocking us with their breezy weightlessness.
So no doubt, then, that Big Cloud is paying Watts to shut down the chemtrail debate!
Either that, or, Tony knows his website is full of ridiculously embarrassing conspiracy theorists with no capacity to critically examine even the most obvious and flimsy pseudoscience, and how that might look to those wondering about WUWT’s credibility when it comes to slightly more serious topics...