Posted on 10/10/2024 2:18:01 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Wildly improbable conspiracy theories about Hurricanes Helene and Milton have spread largely unchecked on social media. The storms were engineered to clear the way for lithium mining. They were sent to help the Democrats in next month’s election. They were formed by weather-controlling lasers.
The claims persist despite attempts by scientists and government officials to debunk them with evidence. They survive all calls to reason.
The falsehoods, which have been circulating on X, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms, can resemble the conspiracy theories that plague modern American politics. Prominent figures are pushing them, citing unrelated, misleading or outdated evidence.
But the risks are often more immediate. Online climate-related conspiracy theories can quickly cause damage offline, disrupting emergency communications and recovery efforts. Officials have said this week that the disinformation about Hurricanes Helene and Milton was making relief workers a target, and the American Red Cross warned that the outlandish claims could prevent survivors from seeking help.
“If they’re telling you that the government is responsible for the disaster, that doesn’t help you at all in getting ready for it,” said Jose E. Ramirez-Marquez, an associate professor of systems engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology and a co-author of a journal article this month on how hurricane-related information traveled through X.
The increasing frequency and devastating power of major storms, heat waves, wildfires and other weather-related catastrophes tend to elicit an especially strong emotional response, allowing climate denialists, lobbyists for the oil and gas industry and rumormongers to exploit people’s concern and confusion.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I still go back to Moneyball, the movie.
“If he’s such a good hitter, why doesn’t he hit good?”
The same applies to FEMA in NC, ...
If they’re good at doing their job, why aren’t they doing a good job?
If they were doing a good job in NC, we’d see it. All we see are people complaining about criticism.
There are nuts out there. So, lets censor conservatives, because they’re all nuts and or evil. That’s what the NYT and other liberals really want. They want to stop conservative voices from their first amendment rights.
As usual for the rat party.
“They survive all calls to reason.”
Did you ever hear the one about the California Attorney General that urinated on Willie Brown’s bed?
I think that hate rumor got squashed and a substitute broadcast internationally in its place.
They can get $750, say Harris
They’re all happy with the response, Biden.
All they can do is create straw men and impute the various conspiracy theories that have often concocted, to their opponents.
All so they can create a one party state like Cuba 🇨🇺, North Korea 🇰🇵, Venezuela 🇻🇪 and China 🇨🇳.
For those of us old enough to remember the Katrina coverage, the difference in the media response is stunning.
I’ll believe the people on the ground.
Ny times states without evidence
“For those of us old enough to remember the Katrina coverage, the difference in the media response is stunning.”
DITTO
MSM said Bush and FEMA were racists who wanted people to die.
Let me guess: the NY Slimes’ remedy for such “disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation” is censorship overseen by themselves and their leftist fellow travelers?
They print only “all the hogwash fit to be spewed.”
Conspiracy theories and falsehoods are always out there and have little if any effect on hurricane preparation. Indeed, due to years of sustained effort by state and local government, Florida is a model of hurricane emergency preparedness and post-storm repair. Would that FEMA had anywhere near such competence and focus on their essential purpose instead of promoting vaporous excuses for their failures.
Yep.
“Wildly improbable conspiracy theories” = the truth that will be revealed in 6 months.
Eh…there’s video, NYT, Ya numbskulls.
The days of ignoring the Holocaust and Stalin tens of millions murdered are over
It is a $750 loan
This is the very epitome of fake news.
HAARP isn’t lasers, so they are being misleading.
I wouldn’t believe in the conspiracy theories if so many weren’t uncovered to be true.
They were the ones to blame it on global warming.
The conspiracy theories just took off from there.
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