Name: #114 Dr. James Fleming - Climate & Weather modification. Geoengineering efforts
Uploaded: 2026-01-11T08:01:00+00:00
Duration: 1 h 1 min 37 s
Description: James Rodger Fleming is a historian of science and technology and professor of science, technology, and society at Colby College. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Scie

22 days ago

Health & Science Conspiracies climate science weather manipulation historical examples climate intervention environmental science James Fleming Joanne Simpson geoengineering atmospheric science

James Rodger Fleming is a historian of science and technology and professor of science, technology, and society at Colby College. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), elected “for pioneering studies on the history of meteorology and climate change and for the advancement of historical work within meteorological societies,” and a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, elected for his historical contributions. He recently held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institution and the AAAS Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship while a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Books include Fixing the Sky (Columbia, 2010), Globalizing Polar Science (Palgrave, 2010), Historical Perspectives on Climate Change (Oxford, 1998), and Meteorology in America, 1800-1870 (Johns Hopkins, 1990). He enjoys fishing, good jazz, good barbecue, seeing students flourish, building a community of historians of the geosciences, and connecting the history of science and technology with public policy.
Summary

In this conversation, Dr. James Fleming discusses his extensive work in climate science and the history of weather manipulation. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexities of climate systems and the historical context of climate intervention efforts. Dr. Fleming shares notable examples of past weather control attempts, such as Operation Popeye, in Vietnam, and highlights the ethical concerns surrounding current technologies in climate intervention. He also reflects on the legacy of pioneering meteorologist Joanne Simpson and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to address the challenges of climate change. Ultimately, Dr. Fleming encourages a balanced perspective on climate issues, advocating for learning from history to inform future actions.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Dr. James Fleming and His Work
07:23 The Hubris of Climate Control
15:31 Historical Examples of Weather Manipulation
21:31 Modern Weather Intervention and Its Implications
27:31 The Future of Climate Science and Technology
32:31 The Complexity of Climate Change
38:40 Navigating the Future: Technology and Climate Solutions
41:31 The Human Element in Science and History
50:46 Geoengineering: Promises and Perils
55:37 Joanne Simpson: A Pioneer in Meteorology
58:34 Looking Ahead: New Projects and Perspectives