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8th July 2022
11:32am BST
A family are evacuated by State Emergency Service workers due to rising floodwaters in Bligh Park on July 04, 2022 (Photo: Getty)[/caption]
Scientists say that, while warmer oceans and saturated soils are just a couple of the factors behind this intense rainfall, this extreme weather cannot just be put down to one single factor alone.
However online, conspiracy theorists have got their own ideas. According to reports from the BBC, they're blaming the extreme rainfall on "cloud seedling" and "weather manipulation".
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People stood by the flooded Windsor Bridge along the Hawkesbury River in Sydney on July 04, 2022 (Photos: Getty)[/caption]
Cloud seeding is actually a real thing. It's a weather modification technique that improves a cloud's ability to produce rain or snow by introducing tiny particles into the clouds, making water vapour gather and eventually fall. It is used to help irrigate crops.
That said, there is no evidence to suggest this technique has anything to do with the extreme rainfall in Sydney.
Despite the fact there is no evidence to back these theories up, the claims are still reaching thousands across social media. Posting a video of the floods, one TikToker wrote: "Nothing to see here, just a typical day of Sydney weather engineering."
Posting on Twitter, another said: "This is happening because the elites are engineering the weather. Tell me this is a normal weather pattern!"
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A TikTok video claimed "weather engineering" is impacting the floods in Sydney (Image: TikTok)[/caption]
Theorists think it is all part of the government's plan to "weaponise" the weather against the public. Not that this conspiracy is new - it's been around for years.
Dr Ellie Gilbert, a climate scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, told the BBC: "The idea that this is happening on a widespread scale, and that there is some motive to manipulate the weather is a complete myth."
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An old news report about weather engineering circulating social media (Image: TikTok)[/caption]
A old news report from Australian TV network 9News is also doing the rounds, in which the newsreader reports concerns from residents in Tasmania that the region's floods in 2016 could have been linked to cloud seeding. Yet a thorough investigation by the Tasmanian government - one that was backed by scientists - found that cloud seeding was not a cause.
Climate change is of course making flooding worse, as well as La Niña - a phenomenon which sees strong winds blow warm Pacific surface waters away from South America to Indonesia, forcing colder water to come to the surface. This increases the likelihood of rain, cyclones and cooler daytime temperatures in Australia.
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