The Student News Site of Sonoma State University

Sonoma State Star

The Student News Site of Sonoma State University

Sonoma State Star

The Student News Site of Sonoma State University

Sonoma State Star

Weather modification for military gain

exc-5f6176d3ea9291754c230bb3
exc-5f6176d3ea9291754c230bb3

According to U.S. Air Force document A.F. 2025, “Weather modification will become a part of domestic and international security and could be done unilaterally.. It could have offensive and defensive applications and even be used for deterrence purposes.” The ability to control and monopolize the weather? Sounds taboo, right? However, the U.S. military has a track record for wanting to achieve battlespace dominance. 

COURTSEY // DVIDSHUB

COURTSEY // DVIDSHUB

One can find direct quotes from the publicly available 1996 U.S. Air Force document on the use of environmental modification techniques. Though, the proposed use of weather warfare by the U.S. military against “enemies” constitutes not only a crime against humanity but also a threat to planet earth. 

The United States’ need to control aspects of the world that do not need tampering- specifically for military purposes- is not commonly known. In the midst of all of the more well-known topics of debate and discussion (i.e., gun control, police defunding/reform, the right to do what you will with your body, ect.), the military’s attempts to control the weather patterns in order to put themselves ahead, or to derail the “enemy,” is hardly addressed. 

Not only is this whole ordeal completely unethical, but the ramifications it can have on the well being of the Earth could be potentially disastrous and irreversible. In an article for Global Research (2020), Professor Michel Chossudovsky stated that the United States violated a treaty in which “military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects” was banned. 

Nevertheless, there have been numerous occasions where America has decided to ignore the very treaty they signed.

One of which being operation HAARP (High-Frequency Active Auroral Research), which was “a weapon of mass destruction, operating from the outer atmosphere and capable of destabilising agricultural and ecological systems around the world.” 

What right does any military, in any country around the world, have to possess or have possessed the kind of knowledge gained throughout HAARP’s research? The answer is none; there is no right. The weather is not a weapon of mass destruction that the military can monopolize and manipulate for selfish use in the name of “defense.” 

The idea that the weather is some kind of tangible object that the United States can control, such as “Precipitation Denial” to induce droughts in countries and deny people fresh water in times of war, is without a doubt inhumane, regardless of its intended use. As if the United States does not already use taxpayer money to play with military-grade toys in other countries daily, they have to militarize the weather too?

Not to mention what these processes could have on the climate. No one needs to be an expert to know that noone should mess with the way Earth operates. The climate is already in such a fragile state as it is, with the rising heat and constant disarray of weather patterns. Even more, tampering with the climate to gain a leg up on an opponent is the most nonsensical idea to date. 

Donate to Sonoma State Star

Your donation will support the student journalists of Sonoma State University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to Sonoma State Star