Greenpeace say Chemtrails are "an urban myth"

Contrails in Public Domain

“Chemtrails”, in case you don’t know, are those long-lasting vapour trails we often see planes leaving in our skies, or at least chemtrails is what conspiracy theorists and chemtrail-believers call them. Scientists, aviation engineers, pilots and everyone else who understands the scientific view of this subject refer to them as contrails.

The environmental campaigning group Greenpeace has made it clear where the organisation stands by claiming that chemtrails are “an urban myth.” In a report entitled "Greenpeace’s view on ‘Chemtrails’" it is stated,

"Greenpeace have not seen sufficient evidence to justify further investigation into whether this is a real problem. As far as we are concerned, chemtrails are an urban myth - a conspiracy theory with no conspiracy."

What Conspiracy Theorists  believe about Chemtrails

 Conspiracy theorists and believers in chemtrails claim that these trails are a sinister plot to cull the human population by weakening their immune systems and gradually poisoning them with a range of toxic substances including barium and aluminium salts. Some claim further that viruses, pathogens and even nano-particles are being "sprayed" into the sky.

It is claimed that the difference between real contrails and chemtrails is that the former do not last very long. This is simply not true, and persistent contrails were documented way back in the 1940s.

Contrails from propeller-driven aircraft engine exhaust, early 1940s Public Domain

The evil Illuminati and the secret Shadow Government or Cabal that conspiracy theorists like to blame for everything wrong with the world, are said to be behind this nefarious scheme.

Chemtrail-believers post countless videos on YouTube showing contrails and cirrus cloud formations they claim is evidence.  There are forums devoted to the subject and even some celebrities like Prince have become believers and supporters of the chemtrail conspiracy theory.

It appears that the term chemtrails was first used and promoted by Canadian journalist and author William Thomas in the 1990s. Thomas has been invited by Metabunk.org to "Politely discuss the Chemtrails Theory" but has so far been conspicuous by his absence.

Jazzroc and Chemtrails and William Thomas

 

JazzRoc -Photo used with permission.

 

My friend Tony Duncan aka JazzRoc became well-known as a debunker of the chemtrail conspiracy theory and for his efforts got himself banned from the David Icke forums and had his account deleted at YouTube. Chemtrail conspiracy theorists do not like anyone arguing with them.

 They take the view that they are right and you are wrong and that they know what is really going on in the world. Chemtrail conspiracy theorists will not accept that they are caught up in a manufactured belief system. They like to claim that everyone else who does not believe in conspiracy theories are "sheeple."  

I remember when JazzRoc posted in a thread on a message board run by William Thomas but Thomas then closed the thread so no further debate could take place. Now I wonder why that was?

 Cloud seeding, Geoengineering and HAARP

 The Greenpeace article then looks at all the subjects that chemtrail-believers use as 'evidence' for the reality of chemtrails and dismisses this 'proof' as unconvincing. In fact, Greenpeace say, "So far, we haven’t seen any evidence supporting the chemtrails hypothesis."

Cloud seeding can be done by ground generators, plane, or rocket. Public Domain

The report explains what Cloud Seeding, Geoengineering and HAARP  ("High Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme") really are and maintains that Greenpeace has seen no evidence that any of these projects have been used to create chemtrails.

Sadly believers in chemtrails are very hard to shake from their beliefs. They prefer to cling to pseudo science and the opinions of conspiracy theory gurus like David Icke, who has promoted the reality of chemtrails in his work. The belief in the chemtrail conspiracy has been used to make money for those promoting it and has added more fear and paranoia into the world today.

Anyone who really wants to find out the facts about contrails and read more about how chemtrails can be explained away as nothing more than vapour trails formed by the very great increase in air traffic should check out contrail science.

How to help Monarch Butterflies - build a pen for monarch caterpillars and milkweed plants

Monarch butterfly (Photo by Steve Andrews)

 

 Monarch butterflies have been facing big problems in America and their numbers have been declining fast. This has been mostly caused by lack of the milkweed (Asclepias) food-plant needed for the caterpillars. Modern farming using Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide has eradicated the plant from fields where it was once common. 

Tropical Milkweed (In Public Domain)

The good news is that a growing number of people have been helping the monarchs increase their numbers again by simply planting more milkweed. Milkweed seeds are easy to buy on the Internet and you can find them by searching on Amazon and eBay as well. Fortunately too, there are species of milkweed that are suited for growing in the different climatic zones of America too.

One big problem that those people who help monarch conservation by cultivating milkweed for the hungry caterpillars face though, is that the larvae will completely defoliate the plants and will eat the leaves, flowers and even the seed-pods. 

Monarch caterpillar (Photo by Steve Andrews)

If not enough milkweed is grown to feed the ravenous caterpillars then many of them will starve or wander away and meet the same fate.

So as much milkweed as possible should be grown and you need a way of helping the plants to regenerate after they have fed the caterpillars. The plants will recover in a surprisingly short space of time if not subjected to more monarch larvae eating them.

Lawrence Chapman, who lives in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, came up with a brilliant solution to this problem. He built easy-to-make pens that can be put on a garden plot where you are growing milkweed.

Monarch butterfly caterpillar pen. (Photo by Lawrence Chapman, used with permission.)

The pens prevent female butterflies from getting to the plants to lay eggs. This means that milkweed plants that have already lost all their foliage to monarch caterpillars can be covered by one of these pens and allowed to regenerate. The pens are simply made using a wooden frame that is covered with gauze mesh.  The finished item is lightweight so is easy to move about in your garden.

Monarch butterfly caterpillar pens. (Photo by Lawrence Chapman, used with permission.)

To build a pen you need: straight strips of wood 2 cm by 1 and half cm, small brackets available from hardware stores (about 1 inch size), a packet of plastic netting, and a staple gun. 

Pen corner showing bracket (Photo by Lawrence Chapman - used with permission).

A recommended size of pen to construct that is suitable for use in the average garden is 1 m long 80 cm high and 90 cm wide.

After the monarch caterpillars you are helping have finished eating enough milkweed, they spin a small silken pad either on stalks of the food-plant or possibly somewhere on a fence, a wall or underneath some item of garden furniture. The caterpillars hang head downwards like inverted question-marks and transform into a pale-green chrysalis after their finals skin change in the larval stage of the monarch’s life cycle.

The adult monarch butterflies will emerge about 10-days to a fortnight later depending on the air temperature where you are.

Jessica Schab releases a Monarch Butterfly

It is a fantastic experience to be able to see the transformation from egg to adult monarch butterfly, and a very rewarding one too because you can take pride in knowing you have played a role in helping the survival of this beautiful winged wonder.