Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a bill to ban weather modification on Saturday, following claims that it contributed to the Texas floods.

Weather modification, or efforts to change or control clouds and precipitation, has long been a controversial subject. Some favor the practice as part of modern agricultural technology, while others claim that it is ruining the “natural balance” of weather systems and ecosystems. The debate dates back to the 1950s, when military programs first explored weather control as a strategic tool, raising ethical and environmental concerns that persist to this day.

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Scrutiny of weather modification has bubbled up in the aftermath of the Texas floods, which started on Friday and have been declared a “major disaster,” killing more than 120 people, with at least 170 more still missing. More rainstorms are still expected in the region, while rescue groups are still looking for survivors in the affected counties.

Greene’s proposed bill would ban the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere “for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity.”

“I want clean air, clean skies, clean rain water, clean ground water, and sun shine just like God created it!!” Greene said on X. “No person, company, entity, government should ever be allowed to modify our weather by any means possible!!”

Greene said the proposed legislation is similar to Florida’s Senate Bill 56, which Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed into law in late June.

The Florida legislation makes it illegal for people to practice weather modification or geoengineering, and sets up a $100,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence for violators.

Here’s everything to know about weather modification.

What is weather modification?

Weather modification means changing, controlling, or attempting to change or control the natural development of atmospheric cloud forms or precipitation forms that occur in the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere, by artificial means, according to the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation.

Weather modification companies are required by the Weather Modification Act of 1976 to provide reports to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at least 10 days before undertaking modification. NOAA does not regulate the activities, but it does collect and track information about them.

One of the most common forms of weather modification is cloud seeding. This form of weather modification increases the efficiency of a cloud by enhancing its natural ability to produce ice.

Insoluble salts, such as silver iodide, are dispersed among existing clouds by aircraft or drone, or shot up from the ground. The water particles within the clouds are “tricked” into forming larger droplets around the silver iodide particles. When an ice particle forms, it collides with water molecules and continues to grow until the ice particle becomes heavy enough to drop as precipitation and fall as rain or snow.

One gram of silver iodide can supply as many as 10 trillion artificial ice crystals, according to the TDLR.

The method is commonly used to increase precipitation, often for agricultural purposes such as irrigating fields and replenishing reservoirs.

In Texas, it is frequently used as a rain-enhancement method, fueling Greene’s theories that weather modification played a role in the Texas floods.

History of weather modification 

The idea of modifying the weather started in 1891, when German engineer Louis Gathmann proposed shooting liquid carbon dioxide into the clouds to produce rain.

Almost 60 years later, scientist Vincent Schaefer accidentally discovered cloud seeding by putting dry ice in a chest freezer to produce a cloud. Schaefer breathed on the ice and created snow crystals. Bernard Vonnegut helped with his findings by proposing using silver iodide as the seeds.

Cloud seeding was prominently used in warfare between 1949 and 1952. In August 1952, the British government attempted to “control the weather” via cloud seeding as a military tool. However, “one of the worst flash floods” occurred in Lynmouth, bringing a halt to the operation, known as Operation Cumulus — even though there is not strong evidence to link the modification to the storm.

The U.S. military also used cloud seeding from 1967 to 1972, which extended the monsoon season over North Vietnam and Laos by 30 to 45 days.

However, weather modification in warfare was ordered to stop. In 1977, the United Nations banned all military or hostile use of environmental modification techniques, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Between 1962 and 1982, NOAA provided support for research into whether a hurricane’s intensity could be modified, calling it “Project STORMFURY.” The project was unsuccessful and was discontinued, according to NOAA.

In January 2011, it was reported that Abu Dhabi created over 50 artificial rainstorms between July and August 2010. During their practices, lightning, hail, and wind gusts also accompanied the storms.

Several western U.S. states regularly use cloud seeding to produce increased amounts of rain or snow.

Recent claims

In October 2024, in the heat of Hurricane Helene, which affected numerous southern states, Greene posted on X that the government has the capacity to control the weather.

“Yes they can control the weather,” Greene wrote. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”

Following Greene’s posts, former President Joe Biden attacked her claims.

“Now the claims are getting even more bizarre,” Biden said. “Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather. We’re controlling the weather. It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s got to stop.”

Nine months later, Greene has stayed strong to her stance on weather modification — this time in response to the Texas flooding.

The controversy erupted online after some X users speculated that the cloud seeding company Rainmaker touched off the flooding in Texas.

In one post, a user included a report submitted to the NOAA by Rainmaker, showing its rainmaking projects are active and in the same locations as the counties where the floods hit the hardest, including Kerr County, where at least 161 people are still missing.

Additionally, Mike Flynn, a former Trump national security adviser, responded to another post sharing Rainmaker’s cloud seeding activity, saying he’d “love to see the response.”

The original post asked Rainmaker to disclose when seeding activity happened and whether it could be related to the Texas flooding.

The facts

Shortly after, the Rainmaker CEO said its last cloud seeding activities were on July 2, and the two seeded clouds reacted between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. that day, over 24 hours before the Texas storms.

According to experts, cloud seeding could not have caused the disasters because the process only increases precipitation by a small amount.

NOAA also created a “fact check” page to debunk weather modification claims. Administration officials said they cannot control the weather, the government is not in charge of storms, and that the NOAA does not target areas with storms.

In response to Greene’s posts, experts and other lawmakers attacked her and her theories online.

Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci blasted Greene in a series of X posts, explaining that cloud seeding is only possible on a small scale and could never cause the flooding seen in Texas.

“Cloud seeding is for a tiny cloud—not a 4,000,000,000,000 gallon flood,” Cappucci wrote. “It’s not a political statement for me as a Harvard-degreed atmospheric scientist to say that elected representative Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.”

CRUZ DISMISSES ‘CRAZY’ WEATHER MODIFICATION THEORIES AFTER TEXAS FLOODS

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) mocked Greene’s post on X, saying he is going to introduce “a bill that prohibits the injection, release or dispersion of stupidity into Congress.”

However, on the other side of the aisle, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) responded to Greene’s bill proposal, writing, “Let’s roll Chairlady!”