Geoengineering Climate Fix or Dangerous Gamble

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On July 10, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin dropped a bombshell: geoengineering is happening in America's skies! Those crisscross patterns you've seen from airplanes? They're not just contrails — they're real, and they're altering our weather. Your health concerns? Valid. Those strange weather events? Possibly manufactured. What was once dismissed as a "conspiracy theory" is now an undeniable fact. But who's behind it, and why? The truth about weather manipulation is unfolding, and it's time to pay attention. Join me as we dive into the startling reality of geoengineering and what it means for you, your family, and the planet. The skies are changing — don't miss the story that's rewriting what we thought we knew about the weather.

This article is part one of a two-part series. Read part 2 here.

What is Geoengineering?

Geoengineering has officially gone from a so-called "conspiracy theory" to a frightening fact.

Weather is being engineered, and devastating weather anomalies might be manufactured events.

According to the EPA, Geoengineering encompasses a broad range of activities, including those that intentionally attempt to cool the Earth or remove certain gases from the atmosphere. Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are often referred to as greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases.

Geoengineering includes Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) through methods such as direct air capture and storage, ocean iron fertilization, or ocean alkalinity enhancement.

Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) – Includes adding particles, such as sea spray, to the lower atmosphere (near the surface) to increase the reflectivity of clouds over the ocean.

Other techniques, such as Cirrus Cloud Thinning (CCT) or space-based methods, have been far less researched due to uncertainty in the processes, high potential costs, and they aren’t easily accomplished.

A subset of geoengineering activities intends to cool the Earth by intentionally modifying the amount of sunlight reaching Earth's surface. These activities are referred to as Solar Geoengineering or Solar Radiation Modification (SRM).

Most proposed solar radiation modification techniques involve adding material to the atmosphere to increase the amount of incoming sunlight reflected back to space. While some of these approaches are currently being studied, the EPA shockingly admits that not enough information exists to fully understand the viability, risks, and benefits of each approach.

The EPA report goes on to describe the types of solar geoengineering techniques in use:

white plane on blue sky — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) – SAI is adding small reflective particles to the upper atmosphere (stratosphere) to reflect incoming sunlight. Sulfur dioxide (SO2), one of the types of chemicals used for Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), can chemically react in the stratosphere to form reflective sulfate aerosols. Although an industrialized population creates sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere, the intentional injection of this chemical comes with huge risks.

According to the American Lung Association, the effects of sulfur dioxide on human lungs are many.

What are the effects of sulfur dioxide?

Sulfur dioxide causes a range of harmful effects on the lungs:

Wheezing, shortness of breath, heart arrhythmia, chest tightness, and other problems, especially during exercise or physical activity. Rapid breathing during exercise and work helps sulfur dioxide (SO2) reach the lower respiratory tract, as does breathing through the mouth.

Long-term exposure at high levels increases respiratory symptoms and reduces the ability of the lungs to function. The long-term impact on athletes, children, and folks who work outdoors is startling.

Short exposures to peak levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the air can make it difficult for children, seniors, and people with asthma to breathe when they're active outdoors.

Increased risk of hospital admissions or emergency room visits, especially among children, seniors, and people with asthma. In my Midwestern community where there’s a high population of seniors, you can hear EMS sirens one after another as particulate matter from geoengineering airplane spraying falls to the ground.

Potential known impacts of geoengineering

The government admits that the purpose of solar geoengineering is to cool the Earth by reflecting more sunlight back to space. However, depending on the approach used, there are some unintended health and environmental consequences that require careful evaluation.

Yet the EPA admits that Scientists aren't entirely sure about the risks and benefits of solar geoengineering because the data and tools they use to study it have some gaps and uncertainties.

"There isn't enough information available to fully understand the unintended consequences of solar geoengineering," according to the EPA, in July 2025.

Why an admission of geoengineering matters

The potential health and environmental impacts of solar geoengineering are staggering. They include:

Effects on the ozone layer – Adding particles to the stratosphere (upper atmosphere) could lead to stratospheric ozone layer depletion; however, lower temperatures from reduced sunlight may also reduce ozone at ground level and its negative health impacts.

Reduced ozone levels as a result of ozone depletion mean less protection from the sun's rays and more exposure to UVB radiation at the Earth's surface.

Ozone layer depletion increases the amount of UVB that reaches the Earth's surface. Laboratory and epidemiological (disease control) studies demonstrate that UVB causes non-melanoma skin cancer and plays a significant role in malignant melanoma development. Of the human health effects from sun exposure, melanoma is the most lethal, causing nearly 7,000 deaths annually in the United States. In addition, UVB is linked to the development of cataracts, a clouding of the eye's lens.

bee sipping nectar on flower during daytime

Geoengineering effects on plants

UVB radiation affects the physiological and developmental processes of plants. Indirect changes caused by UVB (such as changes in plant form, how nutrients are distributed within the plant, timing of developmental phases, and secondary metabolism) may be more important than the damaging effects of UVB.

Farmers and gardeners are sounding the alarm: bees are vanishing. Last summer, I watched bees repeatedly crash into my cabin and drop dead — a haunting sign of trouble. Experts warn this decline threatens our food supply. “Bees pollinate 70% of the world’s crops,” says Dr. Dave Goulson, a bee biologist. Without them, fruits, vegetables, and nuts could disappear, spiking prices and starvation risks. Possible culprits? Pesticides, habitat loss, and even geoengineering — where chemicals like silver iodide, used to boost rain, may poison bees. Northern Hemisphere crop yields are already shaky, with farmers reporting lower harvests. Backyard growers can fight back by planting bee-friendly flowers and ditching chemicals. “Every garden counts,” insists beekeeper Sarah Ellis. Let’s act now — our plates and planet depend on it.

Why you should care about declining bee populations

Why should you care? Bees aren’t just buzzing annoyances; they’re the backbone of our food system. “Bees pollinate 70% of the world’s crops,” explains Dr. Dave Goulson, a renowned bee biologist from the University of Sussex (Goulson, 2021). Without them, staples like berries, tomatoes, and coffee could vanish. Picture grocery shelves bare, prices soaring, and diets shrinking to rice and corn. Beyond food, bees keep ecosystems alive, supporting wild plants that sustain wildlife. Lose them, and the dominoes fall — hard.

You can read more about the bee population decline in our previous article, 'Bees Dying: Food Crisis Looms!'

Geoengineering effects on aquatic ecosystems

Phytoplankton form the foundation of aquatic food. Phytoplankton productivity is limited to the upper layer of the water column, where there's sufficient sunlight to support productivity. Exposure to solar UVB radiation is shown to affect phytoplankton, resulting in reduced survival rates for these organisms. Scientists have demonstrated a direct reduction in phytoplankton production due to ozone depletion-related increases in UVB.

UVB radiation is found to cause damage to the early developmental stages of fish, shrimp, crab, amphibians, and other aquatic animals. The most severe effects are decreased reproductive capacity and impaired larval development. Small increases in UVB exposure could result in population reductions for small aquatic organisms, with negative implications for the whole aquatic food chain.

Could geoengineering be the cause of fewer fish rather than overfishing?

Ecosystem health and crop yields – Adding sulfur to the atmosphere increases the risk of acid rain, deposits of sulfur on the surface, and worsened soil acidity, which could negatively impact food production. Decreased sunlight could also negatively impact the ecosystem and agricultural productivity. Acid rain is any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid, that falls to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This can include rain, snow, fog, hail, or even dust that is acidic.

According to Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, acidic soil is devastating to farmers and backyard growers. "Toxic levels of aluminum harm the crop by what's called, "root pruning."

Root pruning occurs when a small amount of aluminum in the soil over what is normal causes the roots of most plants to either deteriorate or stop growing.

As a result, the plants are unable to absorb water and nutrients normally. They’ll appear stunted and exhibit nutrient deficiency symptoms, especially phosphorus deficiency. The final effect is either complete crop failure or significant yield loss. Often, the field will appear to be under greater stress from pests, such as weeds, because of the poor condition of the crop." This phenomenon puts food production at risk.

Rain and snowfall patterns – Adding particles to the stratosphere or upper atmosphere can alter hydrological cycles, leading to changes in the amount of rainfall and drought in specific regions.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the hydrologic cycle involves the continuous circulation of water in the Earth-Atmosphere system. At its core, the water cycle is the motion of the water from the ground to the atmosphere and back again. Of the many processes involved in the hydrologic cycle, the most important are:

evaporation
transpiration
condensation
precipitation
runoff

The threat to food production as a result of geoengineering isn't scary enough for you?

In that case, the health risks to humans and animals are equally alarming.

Some particles in the stratosphere, or upper atmosphere, eventually come down to Earth's surface, where they can contribute to adverse health impacts.

In part-two of this series, I'll tell you about the 'Geoengineered particulate matter's impact on your health,' what the EPA said about who's spraying over American skies, and what they're doing about it.

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