In Part 6 of a critical examination of chemtrail conspiracy theorists, we consider how these individuals have been accused of fabricating the word
"chemtrail," which their opponents insist should be called a "contrail," as if the later term means something that is only "normal" and has no
potential for harm whatsoever.
Pollution is contamination of the environment with a harmful substance. Air pollution results from chemicals and particulate matter released into the
atmosphere (e.g., carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, nitrogen oxides). Photochemical ozone and smog are created as nitrogen oxides
and hydrocarbons react to sunlight. Smog and haze reduces the amount of sunlight received by plants to carry out photosynthesis. Air pollution turns
into water and soil pollution.
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere cause what's commonly called "acid rain,"
which lowers the pH value of soil and harms various plant life.
The harm air pollution has done to humans is even worse. Ozone pollution is suspected as one cause of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, throat
inflammation, asthma and congestion. Particulate matter is even more of a concern. EPA (
www.epa.gov...) notes
that because of their small size, certain particles about 10 micrometers and smaller are not stopped in the nose and upper lungs by the body's
natural defenses but go deep into the lungs, where they may become trapped. Exposure to particulate matter can cause wheezing and similar symptoms in
people with asthma or sensitive airways. Particulate matter can be a vector for toxic air pollutants and even damage the heart.
But what does this have to do with contrails and chemtrail conspiracy theory? According to NASA's own website
(
science-edu.larc.nasa.gov...) jet engine exhaust contains carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide,
hydrocarbons such as methane, sulfates, soot, and metal particles. This means air pollutants are indeed sprayed by jet aircraft. The contrail itself
is a "human-induced" cloud formed by water vapor that condenses as it clings to the particulate matter of jet exhaust and then freezes. Because a
contrail may be mostly composed of water, this does not negate that it contains soot as well as "dissolved gases like
sulfur dioxide."
Sulphur dioxide is an indisputile form of air pollution. Water vapor on its own may not qualify as pollution, but it is certainly a chemical (H2O).
Every condensed and frozen droplet has formed around a particle of soot. So even if there are no unexpected toxic elements present in a "normal"
contrail, every time a contrail marks the sky its presence is a guarantee that air pollution was released. It practically begs the question:
Why is
the term "chemtrail" considered by some to be such an inappropriate name for the trail of chemicals left behind by jet aircraft?
The reason, which opponents of chemtrailers will deny, has something to do with the power of labels. You may be aware of how innocent civilians killed
in war are often referred to as "collateral damage." You may have also heard that when people develop a secondary illness after receiving a
treatment this is often called a "side effect." The innocent term "contrail," the popular shortened form for "condensation trail," is defended
by debunkers who continue to focus only on the similarity contrails have with natural clouds, which is condensed H2O, even though this byproduct of
jet exhaust contains multiple chemicals. Early pioneers of labeling theory realized that certain labels are used to manage and control information
about something. Sociologist Erving Goffman noted that the psychological demands on society creates an urgency for things to appear normal, and what
follows as a means to this end is the labelling of that which is "deviant." The label applied to a "normal" or "deviant" person or thing
affects how you respond to it. Experiments by Elizabeth Loftus and J.C. Palmer in the 1970s demonstrated that when you manipulate the label applied to
a single event (e.g., how fast were cars going when they "smashed into each other" vs "contacted each other") perceptions of the event are
altered. Labels also affect how you are EXPECTED to respond to a person or thing. In fact, even the term "conspiracy theorist" has become a powerful
label used by many for the sole purpose of stigmatizing someone, often in ways that do nothing but
reinforce social reality.
Taking the above into account, there is widespread reluctance among debunkers to accept the term "chemtrail," and this resistance is not based on
any great fact, particularly given a condensation trail not only contains chemicals but is also a form of pollution. The resistance of the term is one
way that the desire to assert normalcy over a phenomenon manifests itself. Just the sight of persistent contrails filling the sky has been deemed so
disturbing it's sometimes referred to as "aircraft graffiti." There is nothing "normal" about the activity of human beings creating lines of
persistent contrails or the cirrus clouds they sometimes turn into, much like there is nothing normal about cloud seeding to manipulate precipitation.
There's nothing "normal" about how contrails in the sky affect the weather by cooling the daytime and warming the night ( See:
www.ldeo.columbia.edu... ). If anything, it's an abnormal practice to fly jet
airplanes to the extent that this activity is responsible for what's called "global dimming." To continue this unregulated activity is considered
to be a form of pathological behavior by some because of the environmental degradation and negative health impacts that a growing body of research
indicates are consequences for it.
The condemnation of the term "chemtrail" is actually about a group of people that want all of us to appraise the consequences of jet aircraft
activity as normal, and they insist on using the labels that are associated with the phenomenon as normal, --NOT simply because it's the
scientifically correct term, but because their intention is to convey a sense of normalcy over a matter that isn't quite normal at all. If it becomes
widely known that jet aircraft were indeed being used for deploying geoengineering aerosols for a purpose such as solar radiation management, the
consequences for this activity will no doubt again be labelled "normal" by this same group of people. They are already trying to preserve the term
"geoengineering" as nothing but a matter of pure science when the truth is plans for open air testing near populated areas were already drawn in
2012. The people who insist there's no reason to be vigilant about what is happening
in the sky and who come to quick conclusions over the matter in the absence of conclusive evidence are the same people who want to abolish the term
"chemtrail" because of the power this label has to make more people look up into the sky and question what are all those jets doing up there.