Weather forecasters are experiencing an alarming surge in harassment and threats amid recent hurricanes Helene and Milton, raising concerns about public safety and trust in science.
According to James Marshall Shepherd, former NASA scientist and current director of atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia, meteorologists have received death threats and verbal abuse, while FEMA workers face calls for violence against them on social media platforms.
The hostility has intensified as conspiracy theories spread online, with some groups accusing scientists of participating in supposed government plots to engineer weather systems targeting specific regions like Florida and North Carolina.
"In the past, the harassment was over in a fringe element," notes Shepherd, who previously served as president of the American Meteorological Society. "In this last episode, it was bit more mainstream."
The surge in threats creates additional stress for weather professionals already dealing with the challenges of tracking dangerous storms. More concerning is how disinformation campaigns could put lives at risk if residents ignore critical evacuation warnings or if emergency responders face interference while performing their duties.
While meteorologists are actively using social media to counter false information and educate the public about weather and climate science, they face an uphill battle. Trust in scientific expertise has declined substantially in certain communities.
This growing skepticism comes at a particularly dangerous time, as extreme weather events are predicted to increase without substantial reductions in carbon emissions. The safety of both weather professionals and the communities they serve may depend on rebuilding public confidence in meteorological science.
Note: The provided link about Russian ransomware is not contextually relevant to this article about meteorologists facing threats and disinformation, so following instruction #4, I have omitted adding any links.