Remembering HAARP
A netizen tried to explain on her Facebook page why the heatwave hit the European continent but supposedly did not affect North America.
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“HAARP: HOW THEY CAUSE EUROPE’S HEATWAVE.
Officially, we are experiencing an “exceptional heat episode.” Researcher Jean-Pierre Petit explains how hot and cold zones are artificially created on command. What a strange coincidence that the highest thermostat is set in Europe, while America has milder temperatures,” she wrote, sharing a video from the mentioned person explaining how this technology allegedly works.
15min recently described fake news spreading on social networks related to this summer’s and spring’s heatwaves.
Also read: Manipulations about heatwaves – now in Lithuanian too: why they mislead
Also read: Record heat did not convince netizens: they continue to find reasons not to believe in climate change
HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is a scientific project aimed at studying the properties and behavior of the ionosphere (the upper atmospheric layer located 50–965 km above the Earth’s surface).
Research is conducted in Gakona (Alaska). This research site was established by the US military in the 1980s. Since 2015, it has been managed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The program is funded by the military, the university, and the US government.
Conspiracy theories have long circulated online claiming HAARP is responsible for various natural disasters, such as earthquakes or floods. Netizens have also repeatedly blamed this program for heatwaves, cold spells, and other weather conditions.
Also read: Fake news did not take long to appear: the cause of earthquakes was “found” in Alaska
Also read: Are spring heatwaves, cold spells, and other weather anomalies really artificially created?
HAARP does not control the weather
First of all, as 15min has repeatedly written, HAARP cannot control weather conditions.
As stated on the HAARP website, the radio waves transmitted by the program are not absorbed in the troposphere or stratosphere – the two atmospheric layers where Earth’s weather forms. Since there is no interaction, there is no way to control the weather.
“Moreover, if ionospheric storms caused by the Sun itself do not affect weather at the Earth’s surface, it is impossible for HAARP to have any influence,” the page explains.
Is it hot only in Europe?
The heatwave is scorching Europe this summer. Due to the so-called heat dome, several countries on the continent recorded temperature records. This had serious health consequences, including heat-related deaths.
Discussing June temperatures, John Kennedy, head of the Climate Department at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said: “These are exactly the kinds of heatwaves we expect to see in a changing climate.”
“Over the 50 years since the historic 1976 heatwave, temperatures across Europe have risen by about two degrees. It is the fastest warming continent, and the number of extreme temperature events has also increased,” he noted.
The netizen’s claim that record heat did not reach America is false. The US and world media reported on extreme heat in the US as well. In March, the continental US experienced the hottest month in the past 132 years.
A few days ago, temperatures in Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, and Billings, the largest city in Montana, reached 43 degrees Celsius.
Earlier, a different heatwave had affected the eastern US. Temperatures in New York and Philadelphia then rose to about 40 degrees.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press also reported that another heatwave is forecasted in the coming days. The National Weather Service announced that more than 90 temperature records will be reached or broken across the US this week.
Moreover, the heat also affected fans and participants of the FIFA World Cup football tournament, which took place not only in the US but also in Mexico and Canada.
Paul Loikith, a climatologist at Portland State University, told AFP that both the European and American heatwaves fit the definition of “heat domes.”
Heat dome is a meteorological phenomenon where a high-pressure system settles over a large area for several days or even weeks. It acts like a lid: preventing hot air from rising and dispersing, suppressing cloud formation, so the sun continuously heats the Earth’s surface, and temperatures rise daily.
The fastest warming continent
Temperature increases are observed in almost all land areas, although the rate varies. However, Europe is the fastest warming continent – temperatures here are rising more than twice as fast as the global average.
According to data from the EU’s climate monitoring service Copernicus, the fastest warming is observed in the Arctic, as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Compared to the pre-industrial period, Europe has warmed by about 2.5 degrees. June 2026 was the warmest June on record in Western Europe.
This trend is caused by multiple factors: changing weather patterns, increasing solar radiation, decreasing snow cover, geographical location, and decreasing air pollution.
Changes in atmospheric circulation lead to more frequent and intense heatwaves in Europe, as high-pressure systems that bring stable and hot weather more often settle over the continent.
Geography also plays an important role. Europe borders the Arctic, which is warming much faster than the rest of the planet. This is partly because snow and ice reflect most of the sun’s heat, but as they melt, dark surfaces (land and ocean) are exposed, which absorb heat. This process further warms the waters and accelerates ice melt.
Additionally, snow cover has decreased in some parts of Europe, exposing more dark areas.
Since the 1980s, stricter air quality requirements have reduced aerosol emissions. However, the fight against this pollutant has paradoxically contributed to warming, as these particles cool the air by reflecting sunlight.
What caused this heat?
As many scientists and organizations have explained repeatedly, climate warming is to blame for this heat. An urgent analysis by the international group of scientists “World Weather Attribution” (WWA) showed that such an intense event in Europe would have been practically impossible five decades ago.
The current anomaly was caused by a blocking high-pressure anticyclone (“heat dome”) that traps hot air over Europe and draws warm air masses from the Sahara. Compared to the 2003 European heatwave, high nighttime temperatures today are about 100 times more likely, and daytime peaks about 10 times more likely.
Scientific studies show that as the planet warms, heatwaves become more intense, last longer, and occur more frequently.
“Such heatwaves are directly related to the climate crisis and climate change. This happens because we have been burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests, and increasing the concentration of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere for a long time. Heatwaves, droughts, and related fires are becoming more frequent, as we would expect with a warming world,” climate scientist Jennifer Francis from the Woodwell Climate Research Center explained to AP.
Scientists warn that as the average temperature continues to rise, it may rise even higher during future heatwaves.
15min verdict: false. HAARP cannot control weather conditions. This summer, heatwaves scorched both Europe and the US. Europe is warming the fastest of all continents – influenced by its geographical location and other climate change-related factors.
Publication prepared by 15min in cooperation with Meta, aiming to stop the spread of misleading news on social media. More about the program and its rules – here.
