Hurricane Milton stunned meteorologists and climate scientists with its ferocity.
But disinformation is threatening to cloud the public’s understanding of the science while further entrenching political opposition to climate action.
Milton made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 3 storm about 50 miles south of Tampa. It knocked out power to more than 3 million customers, stirred up more than 140 tornadoes statewide, and caused catastrophic flooding and damage that left at least 12 people dead.
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Preparation for and recovery from the two storms have been complicated by a cloud of disinformation from conservative influencers making the rounds on social media. The latest claim: that the government “engineered” Hurricane Milton.
On platforms such as X and TikTok, posts falsely claiming the federal government is controlling the weather have drawn millions of views. Many of the accounts spreading such conspiracy theories also popularized misinformation about Covid-19 and the 2020 election.
